Bluetooth wireless communication makes it possible to track when people have been exposed to people infected with the coronavirus. The right cryptography scheme keeps alerts about exposures private.
The recognition that COVID-19 is accompanied by an equally alarming “infodemic” has added a level of complexity to the situation. What are the consequences of this avalanche of information?
Many ethical decisions will need to be made as patients seek treatment for Covid-19.
Health workers fill out documents before performing tests for COVID-19 at the screening and testing tents set up at the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in Johannesburg.
Photo by Michele Spatari / AFP via Getty Images
Racism against fellow Indians and classism against the poor characterised India’s early response to coronavirus, that is reminiscent of British imperial public health policies.
Room lights in a hotel form the shape of a heart in Jakarta on April 25 2020. The lights were turned on as a symbol of support, gratitude and love for medical workers on the front line of handling the COVD-19 pandemic.
Rifqi Riyanto/INA Photo Agency/Sipa USA/AAP
Democracies such as the United States, Italy and Spain, as well as Indonesia, have so far failed to control the spread of the virus.
Anthony Fauci, left, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks with Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, before testifying at a congressional hearing in March. Fauci has had a higher public profile during the coronavirus pandemic.
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Those who work in the background to keep everyone healthy — public health nurses, health inspectors, laboratory techs and epidemiologists — deserve recognition in the fight against COVID-19.
A member of the South African National Defence Force hands out pamphlets informing township residents about COVID-19 in Johannesburg.
Kim Ludbrook/EPA-EFE
The flu vaccine will not protect you from getting COVID-19. But it will help avoid unnecessary doctors’ visits and protect vulnerable groups from potentially more severe disease.
TyphoidMary is shorthand today for those who defy social distancing orders. The real Typhoid Mary is perhaps the most prominent example in the US of the unknowing disease carrier.
A woman holds a baby in her arms as she sits on a bed under a mosquito net in the Koumassi district of Abidjan.
Sia Kambou/AFP via Getty Images
If not addressed, there will be many more deaths from malaria and other diseases, indirectly linked to COVID-19 disruptions.
On April 15, Finland’s foreign minister Pekka Haavisto (pictured in September 2019) announced on that his country would voluntarily increase its funding of the Wolrd Health Organization.
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Suerie Moon, Graduate Institute – Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement (IHEID)
The world rightly expressed shock and dismay at Donald Trump’s suspension of US funding for WHO. To respond, other governments, funders and citizens are urgently needed to fill the gap.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: at the helm of the WHO at a difficult time.
Salvatore Di Nolfi/EPA
The Trump administration has halted funding to the World Health Organization in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. But what does it actually do with its budget?
Modern day research and clinical trials are highly regulated.
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The rapid sharing of research is so vital. In cases like the COVID-19 pandemic, it can save lives.
Municipal workers block the streets of the Medina neighbourhood of Dakar, Senegal, on March 22, 2020 as a bulldozer demolishes informal shops in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
(AP Photo/Sylvain Cherkaoui)
African countries face unique challenges in their efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19, but lessons learned in other regions where the coronavirus has already peaked may be helpful.
This pandemic could have adverse effects on pregnant women.
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Knowing genetic associations in specific populations will make it possible to focus prevention and treatment on those who will benefit most, sparing expense and side effects from those who will not.
Discolored water can be caused by heavy metals, such as iron or copper. Iron can also act as a nutrient for organisms to grow in the pipes.
Kyungyeon Ra/Purdue University
Office buildings have been left mostly empty for weeks amid the coronavirus pandemic, leaving standing water in pipes where harmful organisms can grow. What happens when those buildings reopen?
There’s no guarantee a coronavirus vaccine will arrive, so we need research to understand the best ways to use facemasks, hand hygiene, and other interventions to control the spread of the disease
We must figure out how to scale the lockdown up and down as needed – possibly several times. We might need to locally switch areas on and off – not the whole country – to deal with isolated outbreaks.
A food market in Ibafo in Nigeria’s Ogun State. The effects of COVID-19 on food systems will be keenly felt in poorer countries.
Photo by Olukayode Jaiyeola/NurPhoto via Getty Images