The evidence about how COVID spreads, taken with the lack of transmission in Victoria, is cause for a rethink. A sensible approach may be to keep masks mandatory indoors – but to relax the rules outside.
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COVID-19 – Articles, Analysis, Comment
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The way in which Australians think about leadership in the education sector has changed throughout the pandemic. It’s seen as a public good, with ethics and accountability gaining in importance.
US president-elect Joe Biden is taking expert advice on how to tackle the US coronavirus crisis. But is that enough?
Early analysis suggests this vaccine has an efficacy of over 90%. So if you took ten people who were going to get sick from COVID-19 and vaccinated them, only one would get sick.
The halving of international student numbers living in Australia to 300,000 is a huge hit to universities’ revenue. But our cities and businesses will also feel the loss of so many residents.
Twitter pile-ons, online celebrity bashing, or knee-jerk reactions are part of an increasingly toxic environment children are being exposed to that risks normalising hate.
For rural people, these stresses are cumulative and contribute to higher levels of trauma, mental ill-health and in some cases, suicidal behaviour.
Two more COVID-19 vaccines may now be on the cards for Australia, should they pass clinical trials. But, as with earlier vaccine deals, there are no guarantees.
A designated coronavirus hospital would relieve pressure on the state’s health-care system and minimise the spread of the virus, but there are a few things to consider.
Ideally, I’d wait until there’s zero community transmission before reopening borders. But I think the risk of a substantial outbreak is low.
So-called mRNA vaccines are among the frontrunners in the global race to design a COVID vaccine. But as a new technology, most nations, including Australia, lack the capacity to produce them at scale.
CBD retailers were already struggling before the pandemic. The contrast in fortunes with suburban retail activity is stark, and there are good reasons to think the shift could be permanent.
City by city, the data on CBD visitors vary with the severity of COVID-19 outbreaks and restrictions. But none of the CBDs has recovered former activity levels, and some might never fully recover.
The pandemic’s dramatic drop in health-care use is both a crisis of unmet need and an opportunity to reduce the unneeded.
It’s helpful to remember you’re in an unusual situation with no perfect map of how to cope, or a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to get through it.
While it can be difficult to get young kids to follow instructions around social distancing, there are a few things parents can do to minimise the risk of any COVID-19 spread on the playground.
A new test developed in Australia will reportedly be able to tell us whether someone has a high ‘viral load’. But that doesn’t automatically make them a ‘superspreader’.
Collective trauma research tells us if you haven’t been through the event, you’ll never quite understand. That doesn’t mean people outside Melbourne haven’t had their own experience, or can’t help.
There is cause for optimism. But now the pendulum swings towards individuals taking responsibility for managing risks, rather than government telling you what you can and can’t do.
Victoria’s lockdown has been hard, but it now occupies a rare and envious position. As Victorians await new freedoms on the next step towards COVID-normal, they should feel a sense of accomplishment.
How does Victoria’s response to a second COVID-19 wave compare internationally? Very favourably - only a handful of other jurisdictions have enjoyed anything like the same level of effectiveness.
Any COVID-19 vaccine is likely to be given first to higher risk groups before it is given to children. But we still need vaccines that are safe and effective for them too.
No kissing, jumping up and down on the dance floor, or buffets. Sounds like a COVID wedding.
The government has boosted funding for mental health services in light of the pandemic. But will these extra services get to where they are most needed?
Current housing stimulus measures aim to boost buyer demand and are too small to sustain a recovery. A second round of stimulus is likely to be needed, and it should go into social housing supply.