As NSW on Wednesday extended its lockdown for another month and the federal government shelled out more money, it was as if we were back in 2020 and Victoria’s long incarceration.
The k number tells us whether the spread of a disease is steady or comes in big bursts, with a small proportion of people infecting many others. The latter is know as superspreading.
Patients with more symptoms during initial infection – particularly breathlessness, chest pain or abnormal heart sounds – appear more likely to experience lasting illness.
A change in how witnesses, victims and authorities respond to domestic violence reports paired with limited social services placed victims in a vulnerable position during the pandemic.
Tolerating political protest is an essential part of democratic life. But when the protests pose a genuine risk of harm to the community, that’s when they are no longer ethically justified.
With the impact and cost of long COVID becoming ever more apparent, ongoing pandemic responses will need to be about protecting quality of life as much as saving lives.
Once we achieve herd immunity, people who are not vaccinated benefit indirectly from the immunity of those around them. But it’s not easy to say exactly when we’ll reach this threshold for COVID-19.
Parents face tough choices since young kids can’t yet get COVID-19 vaccinations. An infectious diseases expert offers guidance on navigating summer activities.
The evidence shows the main way COVID-19 spreads is through the air. I propose 3 steps Australia needs to take to protect people from infection risk and other indoor air hazards.
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