Pandemics often have animal origins, so prevention is often dominated by health and veterinary sciences. However, social sciences’ role in understanding human behaviour is also crucial to prevention.
On the fourth anniversary of New Zealand’s first COVID case it’s clear this is not a normal pandemic. Despite fatigue and indifference, New Zealand must heed the evidence and improve its response.
Auditor General Karen Hogan testifies before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2024. She came to some harsh conclusions about the management of the ArriveCan app.
Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick
The cost overruns of the ArriveCan app are exceptional, but the scandal is not unique in history. There are solutions available to prevent the excessive use of public funds.
Since 2020 there has been exponential rise in ‘virus fiction’ by a new COVID generation of authors who came out of isolation having experienced a pandemic in real time.
While some lucky people believe they’ve never had COVID, many are facing their second, third or even fourth infection. Here’s what the evidence shows.
Job seekers in Johannesburg, South Africa wait on the side of a road holding placards reading their specialisation.
Mujahid Safodien/AFP via Getty Images
During the pandemic, many people relied on social media for distraction and social connection. However, excessive social media use can negatively affect mental health, especially for young people.
Teachers report worse well-being than the general population.
VectorFusionArt via Getty Images
COVID was a ‘gendered pandemic’, with women carrying very different burdens to men. A three-year New Zealand research project aimed to overcome the urge to forget, and provide lessons for the future.
The mysterious case of the OC43 coronavirus pandemic.
Researchers investigated how the availability of neighbourhood amenities may have contributed to changes in youth mental health and stress levels during the first six months of the pandemic.
(Unsplash/Paul Hanaoka)
Neighbourhood features may have helped youth cope with the mental health impact of pandemic restrictions. Parks didn’t play much of a role but food amenities and the suburbs did.