A health-care worker prepares for the opening of the COVID-19 Assessment Centre in Ottawa, during a media tour on March 13, 2020.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang)
Trump called coronavirus a hoax, and he dragged his feet in addressing it. But the US health care system was ill-equipped from the start to deal with such a crisis. The pandemic shows the flaws.
A nurse at a drive-up coronavirus testing station set up by the University of Washington Medical Center on Friday, March 13, 2020.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
There is no evidence that the coronavirus has evolved into a deadlier strain. It is almost certainly less lethal than initially reported, but that might mean there are more cases than we realised.
Humans are innately social, so periods of enforced quarantine or isolation will be a challenge. But there are some things we can do to ensure being isolated doesn’t translate to feeling lonely.
New Zealand will spend NZ$12.1 billion – or 4% of its GDP – to support businesses, increase benefits for seniors and low-income families, pay people in self-isolation, and boost health care capacity.
Disasters and times of crisis bring out the best in most of us. Despite the media focus on initial panic at the COVID-19 pandemic, we are are starting to see a more heartening community response.
If the IOC does postpone the games, it will have to deal with consequences such as the impact on athletes, broadcasting obligations, insurance pay-outs and its brand reputation.
Tourism is vital to NZ and small economies in the Pacific. But as the Samoa Tourism Authority’s CEO says, “we can always get money back, but once there’s a loss of life you’ll never have that back”.
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