Michelle Grattan talks with Deputy Vice Chancellor Geoff Crisp about the week in politics, including the “sports rorts” affair, the future of Michael McCormack and the corona virus travel ban.
The official naming of COVID-19 has the tone of a committee decision. Historically, names for diseases have not been quite so well thought out and were more likely to offend.
Researchers around the world are working together to control the coronavirus outbreak, now known as COVID-19. This is what’s behind the global effort to develop a vaccine.
What’s the best way to tackle coronavirus myths and misinformation if they come up in everyday conversation?
Medical staff strike over coronavirus concerns in Hong Kong. Hospital workers are demanding the border with mainland China be shut completely to ward off the virus.
(AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
Poor communication and misinformation is yet another way an epidemic can cause harm. So it’s important health authorities get their messaging right.
Through public genome sequences, a team in Berlin perfected a molecular diagnostic protocol to detect the 2019-nCoV more than a week before the first case was confirmed in Germany.
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Frontier research initiatives to tackle the 2019 coronavirus seem to be dominated by institutions in China, the US, Japan and labs across Europe. Very little seem to be coming form Indonesia.
A police officer in Beijing adjusts his face mask, which millions in China are using in hopes of preventing coronavirus infection, on Feb. 9, 2020. The virus is causing major disruptions.
AP Photo/Andy Wong
While US residents may feel safe from the effects of the coronavirus, the aftershocks could be damaging in unexpected ways. The disruption to China’s supply chain could cause drug shortages.
As cities have shut down and residential compounds have issued curfews, social media in China have become more important than ever. But it is a place of rumours and mistruths.
Global business travel requires companies to ensure their employees are briefed about any potential risk or hazard while abroad.
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Misinformation spreads fast when people are afraid and a contagious and potentially fatal disease is frightening. This provides the ideal emotionally charged context for rumours to thrive.
Tourists wear mask at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in late January as precautionary measures amid coronavirus outbreak.
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Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne