A senior World Health Organisation envoy caused consternation by proclaiming lockdowns are not a good long-term strategy against COVID-19. But it’s true, and other subtler tactics are better in the long run.
You can still enjoy some of the fun of Halloween celebrations this year, and stay safe. It helps to look back at the origins of some of the spooky traditions.
Despite the success of relief efforts by the government and civil society, it’s clear that hunger and food insecurity remain at disturbingly high levels in households.
Anna Boucher, University of Sydney and Robert Breunig, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Australia’s population growth is expected to be stagnant over the next two years, due largely to decreased immigration. This won’t lead to a quick economic recovery.
Coronavirus is surging in Spain, France, Germany and the UK, after many countries relaxed restrictions over the summer. They should look to success stories like Vietnam.
Health statisticians keep careful tabs on how many people die every week. Based on what’s happened in past years, they know what to expect – but 2020 death counts are surging beyond predictions.
Pregnant women are at increased risk for serious COVID-19 complications and should be a high-priority group for vaccination. Excluding them from vaccine trials puts them and their offspring at risk.
Experts from across The Conversation look at how COVID-19 vaccines will work, how they’re being tested and manufactured, and what challenges there will be to rolling them out.
The most sustainable and cost-effective solution for protecting patients’ lives is to reduce the causes of human error. Health professionals must be adequately trained to reduce adverse outcomes.
The data concerning both the spread of the virus and the indirect consequences of the lockdown indicates that no similar action is justified moving forward.
As ready as you are to be done with COVID-19, it’s not going anywhere soon. A historian of disease describes how once a pathogen emerges, it’s usually here to stay.
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne