Menu Close

Public health – Analysis and Comment

Situated on a plateau and surrounded by mountains, Mexico City – seen here in a haze on May 20, 2018 – is a ‘bowl’ that traps smog and dust. AP Photo/Marco Ugarte

Mexico City buried its rivers to prevent disease and unwittingly created a dry, polluted city where COVID-19 now thrives

The Aztecs had a shining city on a lake, with canals, causeways and aqueducts – until the Spanish came. Mexico City is still suffering the consequences of their bad public health decisions.
By setting out the continent’s research priorities, scientists can focus better on what needs to be done. Maliutina Anna/Shutterstock

Africa’s scientists set out their COVID-19 research priorities

Some of the priorities were drawn from the World Health Organisation’s Roadmap; others were expressed by researchers in and from Africa as being important to the continent’s many contexts.
On June 26, Texas’ governor ordered bars to close as COVID-19 case numbers spiked, particularly among younger adults. This Houston bar, photographed in late May, voluntarily shut down shortly before the order after two staff members tested positive for the coronavirus. Mark Felix/AFP/Getty Images

COVID-19 messes with Texas: What went wrong, and what other states can learn as younger people get sick

Texas hospitals are filling up with new COVID-19 cases, and many of the people falling ill are young.
A member of the nursing staff at Chandaria Health Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, measures the temperatures of visiting patients. Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images

Why managing blood pressure matters during COVID-19 pandemic

Most facilities prioritize COVID-19 cases. In addition, curfews are still in effect in Kenya, which affects the working hours of clinics providing hypertension care services.
Coughing, sneezing, talking and even just breathing can produce airborne particles that can spread SARS-CoV-2. Stanislaw Pytel/Digital Vision via Getty Images

People are getting sick from coronavirus spreading through the air – and that’s a big challenge for reopening

SARS-CoV-2 can be spread through the air. But just how much of a factor that is has been hard to determine. Recent evidence suggests it is common, posing problems as public places begin to reopen.