COVID-19

Law in order?

Guest Author • May 14, 2020

• coronavirus,
• COVID-19,
• government,
• law,
• Pandemic,
• regulation

Nik Green Governments around the world have restricted the activities of their citizens in the fight against COVID-19 under various laws and powers. Over the past couple of weeks, the legality of the restrictions New Zealand has put in place has been questioned by law professors Claudia Geiringer and Andrew Geddis, and the … Read More

Lockdown: the effect on children’s learning and wellbeing

Guest Author • May 12, 2020

• children,
• coronavirus,
• COVID-19,
• lockdown,
• Pandemic,
• school

Ron Crawford Lockdown hasn’t seemed too bad. I’m well set up to work from home, it’s been easy for me to take a walk on our nearby beach, and the weather has been mostly calm and sunny. Beach bubble – James Soligo I’ve noticed many families enjoying the opportunity to spend time together over the last few weeks – here … Read More

The pause that depresses

Guest Author • May 11, 2020

• coronavirus,
• COVID-19,
• Pandemic,
• recession,
• unemployment

Murray Sherwin The die is cast. We won’t see the official numbers for quite a while, but it is already apparent that New Zealand is headed into the sharpest and deepest recession in 100 years. We know we will experience unemployment at, and perhaps above, levels not seen since the late 1980s, company failures and large income losses across the … Read More

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Fleas to flu to coronavirus: how ‘death ships’ spread disease through the ages

Guest Author • May 11, 2020

• coronavirus,
• COVID-19,
• cruise ships,
• plague,
• spanish flu

Joy Damousi, Australian Catholic University One of the haunting images of this pandemic will be stationary cruise ships – deadly carriers of COVID-19 – at anchor in harbours and unwanted. Docked in ports and feared. The news of the dramatic spread of the virus on the Diamond Princess from early February made the news real for many Australians who’d … Read More

Past pandemics show how coronavirus budgets can drive faster economic recovery

Guest Author • May 08, 2020

• budget,
• coronavirus,
• COVID-19,
• Economy,
• Pandemic

Ilan Noy, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington With New Zealand’s May 14 budget expected to chart the way out of the economic crisis, Finance Minister Grant Robertson should be looking to the past as well as the future. Finance ministers elsewhere are facing similar decisions, many even more constrained than New Zealand’s. But the common claim that … Read More

A stoat trappers’ guide to elimination

Guest Author • May 08, 2020

• coronavirus,
• COVID-19,
• elimination,
• eradication,
• Pandemic,
• predatore free,
• stoat trapping,
• stoats

Dave Heatley New Zealanders have a lot of experience with islands and unwanted organisms – keeping them away, learning to live with them, and – in just a few cases – eliminating them. What can that experience tell us about plans to eliminate COVID-19? I can’t claim any expertise on polio, measles, Mycoplasma bovis or thar. But I do … Read More

Re-opening the trans-Tasman border

Guest Author • May 07, 2020

• Australia,
• coronavirus,
• COVID-19,
• Economy,
• Pandemic,
• tourism

Dave Heatley “Shut the borders” is a natural first reaction to an external threat. It makes a lot of sense in the early stages of a pandemic, when those arriving at the border are more likely to be infected than those within the country. But what if that’s no longer the situation? After a country lifts its internal restrictions … Read More

Four types of Kiwi at Level 3

Guest Author • Apr 30, 2020

• coronavirus,
• COVID-19,
• lockdown,
• Psychology

Jacqui Maguire, registered clinical psychologist Recently I was asked to predict how our nation would transition into level 3. My answer was that it’s never best to predict human behaviour when we don’t have an evidence-based blueprint. What I could guarantee is that we will not respond unanimously. As we begin this week at level 3, my educated guess … Read More

How to make a coronavirus vaccine

Guest Author • Apr 24, 2020

• coronavirus vaccine,
• COVID-19,
• COVID-19 vaccine

Becky Casale After weeks of lockdown, people are starting to wonder about the long term exit plan for coronavirus. When can we get back to the workplace? When can we go out to restaurants? When can we party? In short, when will social distancing end? In New Zealand, we are one of the few nations able to toy with the … Read More

COVID-19 and the global climate emergency

Guest Author • Apr 22, 2020

• climate change,
• climate change and health,
• coronavirus,
• COVID-19

Associate Professor Simon Hales Living in 21st century New Zealand, it is easy to lose sight of the reality that human societies are embedded in a planetary ecosystem, upon which all life on Earth ultimately depends. Human cleverness beguiles us into believing that technology will always provide the answers to human needs. But the Covid-19 pandemic has brought … Read More

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