If the IOC does postpone the games, it will have to deal with consequences such as the impact on athletes, broadcasting obligations, insurance pay-outs and its brand reputation.
Tourism is vital to NZ and small economies in the Pacific. But as the Samoa Tourism Authority’s CEO says, “we can always get money back, but once there’s a loss of life you’ll never have that back”.
The food we eat influences our bodies’ immune responses to infection. So focusing on nutrition is one thing we can do to help protect ourselves in the face of the coronavirus threat.
Computer chip and circuit board factory, Jiangxi, China.
Shutterstock
Expert advice is divided on the best way to tackle COVID-19.
An entire section of meat and poultry is left empty after panicked shoppers swept through in fear of the coronavirus at a grocery store in Burbank, Calif. on March 14, 2020.
(AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
COVID-19 is showing us we must work collectively to put resilience alongside efficiency as the primary drivers for the systems we depend upon each and every day for food.
Passengers waiting at the ferry terminal in Dartmouth, N.S. on March 16, 2020. The number of passengers has been limited as part of the effort to control the spread of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.
(Andrew Vaughan/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Canadians have a reputation for compassion; in the current COVID-19 pandemic, this means helping each other by staying away.
A man walks past a large display promoting the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Organizers have resisted calls to postpone or cancel the Games, which are scheduled to start July 24.
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
While sporting events around the world have put their seasons on pause, the International Olympic Committee has refused to cancel the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. For athletes, the delay is a dilemma.
There are good reasons to call off a vote during a pandemic – but other good reasons to push ahead.
A vendor distributes newspapers wearing a face mask as a preventive measure against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Nairobi, Kenya.
Simon Maina/AFP via Getty Images
With shelves cleared of hand sanitiser, many people are starting to to make their own.
When the COVID-19 pandemic tapers off, festivals will be an important part of recovery. Here, crowds last April at the 2019 Coachella music festival, in Indio, CA. The spring festival has been cancelled and rescheduled for the fall.
(Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)
The decision to cancel a festival is never easy and can have difficult financial and community costs. Both planners and would-be attendees can play a role in mitigating the impact.
The beginning of the year has brought not only a cascade of bad news but also a wealth of great memes. With detached humour, people on the internet are identifying a problem, but the question remains: what do do about it?
(Shutterstock)
Despite the nihilism and pessimism of internet memes, people ultimately understand the direness of the danger posed by a powerful virus, climate change and global instability.
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne
Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand