A computer science technique could help gauge when the pandemic is ‘over’: The world wants the pandemic to end and life to return to normal. When will that happen? Marc Fernandes/NurPhoto via Getty Images In early 2022, nearly two years after Covid was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, experts are mulling a …
Pandemic parliaments: lessons learned from two years trying to run democracies living under COVID-19: Social distancing left Westminster's House of Commons virtually empty at times. UK Parliament/Flickr, CC BY-NC Parliaments matter more than ever in times of crisis. They oversee emergency responses, evaluate and pass legislation, and approve funds to meet urgent public needs. They …
Two years into the pandemic, which of our newly formed habits are here to stay?: The World Health Organization officially declared COVID a pandemic on March 11 2020. Now, two years later, there’s light for some at the end of the tunnel. In many wealthier countries, which have benefited from several rounds of vaccination, the …
Who gets to decide when the pandemic is over?: Cavan-Images/Shutterstock It’s been two years since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID outbreak a pandemic, and since then, people around the world have been asking the same thing: when will it end? This seems like a simple question, but historical analysis shows that “the …
Universities after COVID: as lecture theatres reopen, some pandemic teaching methods should live on: Rido/Shutterstock COVID-19 restrictions required universities to move their classes online. It was a tremendous – although difficult – learning experience for all involved in this shift. As restrictions have been lifted, universities are moving back to in-person teaching. With campuses getting …
Did the pandemic drive a desire for more generous welfare? New research suggests not: The COVID-19 pandemic has been the most serious public health crisis in a century. It resulted in governments taking unprecedented powers to regulate people’s social lives, and undertaking substantial fiscal interventions to cushion the impact on people’s finances and the broader …
New COVID data: South Africa has arrived at the recovery stage of the pandemic: People wait to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Luca Sola/AFP via Getty Images A recently published South African study set out to determine sero-positivity against SARS-CoV-2 before the fourth wave of COVID-19, in which the omicron variant was dominant. Sero-positivity measures the …
Child care centres in South Africa need more support: principals tell of pandemic impact: Shutterstock South Africa’s early childhood development sector plays a critical role in providing early care and education, catering generally for children aged three to five in their pre-primary school years. Though it’s an essential service, this sector remains mostly informal. Government …
Nigeria’s pandemic lockdown measures were hard on informal workers: A deserted Lagos road during the pandemic lockdown in April 2020. Adekunle Ajayi/NurPhoto via Getty Images During the first wave of the pandemic in Nigeria, security forces were mandated to enforce lockdown and stay-at-home orders. Intended as public health measures, these controls inflicted collateral damage. The …
Like COVID, TB is a pandemic and must be treated as an emergency: Operating in crisis mode for COVID-19, TB, or any other health catastrophe is difficult to sustain. Seyllou/AFP via Getty Images In 1993, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared tuberculosis (TB) a global public health emergency. It urged nations to coordinate efforts to …
Digital technology is helping us memorialise the pandemic – despite the government wanting us to forget about it and move on: As the warnings to “stay at home” fade from memory and we’re told we must “learn to live with COVID”, it is easy to forget the first dread-filled days of the pandemic two years …
How the pandemic has affected periods: Natalia Mels/Shutterstock The coronavirus has had many impacts over the past two years – including, it seems, on periods. Many people have reported disturbances to their menstrual cycles, some noticing changes after catching the virus, others following vaccination. For some, disruptions didn’t follow either, but were still noticeable. But …
The pandemic nearly killed theatre – the creative way it fought back could leave it stronger: When the UK went into lockdown in 2020, its multibillion-pound theatre industry could have ceased to exist. However, the vacuum caused by this physical shutdown served in many cases as a spurring force for increased creativity and resourcefulness. Productions did …
Adult social care was hit hard during the pandemic – it will need help to recover: Omicron cases are falling, and the UK government is focusing on a return to normal. But far from entering a post-pandemic recovery phase, the adult social care sector – which provides crucial services to people who are disabled, elderly …
Deeper divide: what Kenya’s pandemic school closures left in their wake: Students at a primary school in Nairobi, Kenya, queue to have their temperature taken when public schools fully reopened on 4 January 2021. Gordwin Odhiambo/AFP via Getty Images In Kenya, the pandemic disrupted learning for 15 million students in primary and secondary institutions. Schools …
The pandemic made period poverty worse in the UK – but also led to new ways to combat it: Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock Despite the UK being one of the most developed countries in the world, there are still thousands of people in Britain who are not able to afford or access period products or menstrual health …
COVID: how the pandemic could make poverty levels among ethnic minorities even worse: Shutterstock/insta_photos Ethnic minority groups have suffered the highest risk of COVID mortality in the UK, according to the latest official figures. In the first wave (before the vaccine roll-out), the risk of death was highest for those with a black African background. …
The cognitive bias that tripped us up during the pandemic: The human brain is a marvellous machine, capable of handling complex information. To help us make sense of information quickly and make rapid decisions, it has learned to use shortcuts, called “heuristics”. Most of the time, these shortcuts help us to make good decisions. But …