Michael Baker, University of Otago; David Welch, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau, dan Dion O'Neale, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
The pre-Christmas period puts New Zealanders at high risk of exposure to COVID. Even at small gatherings of ten people, the probability someone has the virus has increased from 2-3% to about 15%.
New Zealand has done better than most countries by taking decisive action at the start of the COVID pandemic. Now is the time to build on this with a science-based strategy to manage the next stages.
Michael Plank, University of Canterbury; Dion O'Neale, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau, dan Emily Harvey, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Vaccine passes have outlived their usefulness, at least for now. But as New Zealand’s Omicron wave begins to subside, other public health measures remain vitally important.
David Welch, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau dan Nigel French, Massey University
As Omicron cases soar in New Zealand, most people can still avoid getting infected. Even if you share a household with an infected person, catching the virus is not at all inevitable.
Now that Omicron infection is widespread, the government could improve trust by phasing out travel restrictions and border isolation and reviewing vaccine mandates to ensure they are proportionate.
Since the coronavirus first began spreading around the globe, people have debated how effective masks are at preventing COVID-19. A year and a half in, what does the evidence show?
New Zealand continues to pursue an elimination strategy to stamp out community infections with the Delta variant. But it will need incentives and some degree of compulsion to raise vaccination rates.
Harisu Abdullahi Shehu, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Hedwig Eisenbarth, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington, dan Will Browne, Queensland University of Technology
Robots are more likely than people to misclassify emotions when reading faces that are partially covered. This could lead to unexpected behaviours when they interact with people wearing masks.
Wanyun Shao, University of Alabama dan Feng Hao, University of South Florida
Multiple factors determined whether or not individual Americans adopted COVID-19 safety measures, according to statistical analysis of public opinion data.
Effective education depends on good communication and relationships, but face masks hinder visual and verbal cues and can be unsettling. So how can teachers and students overcome these issues?
Americans were tired of social distancing and mask-wearing. At the first hint the virus was receding, people pushed to get life back to normal. Unfortunately another surge of the disease followed.
The president wants Americans to be able to celebrate Independence Day with small gatherings. What will it take to get the virus under control by then? Three public health school deans explain.
The COVID-19 case spike in the summer of 2020 and earlier attempts to rely on personal responsibility, like wearing seat belts, showed that mandates make a difference.
Are two face masks better than one? Adding layers of filtration by double masking is a way of using the masks that we already have, possibly to better effect.
The positive reaction to service workers wearing masks varied by region, with those in the West on the high end and people in the Midwest at the low end.
Project Lead - COVID Modeling Aotearoa; Senior Lecturer - Department of Physics, University of Auckland; Principal Investigator - Te Pūnaha Matatini, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau