Rapid tests can be an incredibly useful tool for early detection of COVID-19. Unfortunately, they sometimes leave people with more questions than answers.
As of August 2022, COVID-19 vaccination rates in Black and Hispanic people exceeded those of white Americans nationally, but only for the initial shots.
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Early on, public health messaging focused on the need for vaccines to combat COVID-19. But far less attention has been given to the role of boosters in preventing deaths and reducing inequities.
The arrival of the highly infectious Omicron variant has changed the COVID landscape in Australia. We asked 5 experts whether it’s time to rethink vaccine mandates for dining, fitness and events.
Claire Guinat, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich; Etthel Windels, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, and Sarah Nadeau, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
After a nose swab tests positive for a virus or bacteria, scientists can use the sample’s genetic sequence to figure out where and when the pathogen emerged and how fast it’s changing.
A vaccinated person is less likely to get COVID, is less contagious, and is contagious for a shorter time.
A garment worker walks through a clothing factory in Montréal during the COVID-19 pandemic. Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. did not collect adequate information about workplace transmission.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Routine collection of work information from people testing positive for COVID-19 from the start of the pandemic would have enabled better understanding of the role of workplaces in transmission.
Female prsioners wave goodbye to their fellow inmates following their release from Chikurubi prison on the outskirts of Harare in Zimbabwe in April 2021. Zimbabwe released about 3,000 prisoners due to COVID-19.
(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world released many prisoners, but this has now slowed or stopped. Here’s why those releases should continue.
A model of a “virtual” Aotearoa shows even a few new connections will lead to a complex web of transmission which could fuel the spread of the Delta outbreak.
High-touch surfaces in grocery stores were tested as a potential transmission point for SARS-CoV-2.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
The risk of COVID-19 exposure from high-touch surfaces within grocery stores is low if physical distancing guidelines and recommended cleaning protocols are followed.
Picture yourself at the gym. It might be confined, people are huffing and puffing, everyone is moving around. And that’s before you hit the showers and change room.
Vaccinated people are well protected from getting sick, but could they inadvertently transmit the coronavirus?
Noam Galai/Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images
You only have to prevent one case, which could have otherwise led to community spread and lockdown, for such a scheme to pay for itself many times over.
Sequencing the whole genome of patient virus samples lets scientists watch for new variants.
Sergei Malgavko/TASS via Getty Images
Our buildings and cities were not designed to handle a pandemic. But countries around the world are coming up with design ideas, some high-tech and some more basic, to reduce the infection risks.
Without improvements to New Zealand’s ‘makeshift’ border quarantine system the risk of further community cases of COVID-19 variants remains high.
A person wears a protective face mask to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 as they walk past the emergency department of the Vancouver General Hospital on Nov. 18, 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Super-spreader events typically have the ‘three Vs" in common: indoor venues, poor ventilation and vocalisation. But many buildings frequented by the public lack ventilation or the means to monitor it.
We still don’t know how long the coronavirus lasts on surfaces in real-world conditions, such as on objects in the home, at work or in the supermarket.
Visiting Professor in Biomedical Ethics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Distinguished Visiting Professor in Law, University of Melbourne; Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford