Tagged: COVID-19

Kids set free to roam on their own feel more confident navigating in adulthood - Hot off the press

Guest Author • Jul 30, 2021 •

• children,
• COVID-19,
• navigating,
• roaming

Vanessa Vieites, Rutgers University   The distance from home that kids are allowed to roam and play has shrunk significantly over the last 50 years. That’s largely due to parents’ concerns over safety, especially in cities. More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has further restricted children’s independent activity. As a Ph.D. student in psychology, I studied factors … Read More

Running into Trouble: COVID-19 in Japan during the Tokyo Olympics - Public Health Expert

Public Health Expert • Jul 30, 2021 •

• COVID-19,
• Japan,
• Olympics,
• Public Health

Dr Leah Grout, Dr Jennifer Summers, Prof Nick Wilson, Prof Michael Baker * The 2020 Olympic Games were originally postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The delayed event has now opened, with the opening ceremonies held on 23 July 2021 and competitions scheduled to take place through 9 August 2021. In this blog we look at the situation in Japan, … Read More

Why governments will have to consider the costs of long COVID when easing pandemic restrictions - COVID-19

Guest Author • Jul 27, 2021 •

• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome,
• COVID-19,
• long-COVID,
• New Zealand stories

Richard Meade, Auckland University of Technology   With governments worldwide under pressure to ease pandemic restrictions as vaccination rates rise and impatience with border restrictions grows, new threats become clearer. One of the costliest, it is now feared, could be a tsunami of “long COVID” cases. Long COVID is a serious ongoing illness that follows an acute episode of the … Read More

Could Britain be sued for reopening and putting the world at risk from new COVID variants? - COVID-19

Guest Author • Jul 21, 2021 •

• Boris Johnston,
• COVID-19,
• COVID-19 variants,
• Freedom Day,
• New Zealand stories,
• UK

Kris Gledhill, Auckland University of Technology With most COVID-19 restrictions now lifted in England, the world is watching to see what this so-called “freedom day” will bring. Some scepticism is warranted, given Britain’s approach throughout the pandemic has hardly been a success. By July 19, there had been 128,985 deaths from COVID-19, and the death rate per million … Read More

Four in five New Zealanders plan to get vaccinated, but many people want more information about vaccine safety - COVID-19

Guest Author • Jul 15, 2021 •

• COVID-19,
• New Zealand stories,
• vaccination

Jagadish Thaker, Massey University   New Zealanders’ intention to get a COVID-19 vaccine is at its highest since last year, at 81% of the adult population, according to our latest research. Ministry of Health surveys, which have been tracking public acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines since last year, also confirm the potential uptake has increased to 80% in May, … Read More

The alarms are flashing red: Five reasons to upgrade our Alert Level system before the next Covid-positive traveller visits a major city - Public Health Expert

Public Health Expert • Jul 14, 2021 •

• alert levels,
• COVID-19,
• New Zealand stories

Amanda Kvalsvig, Nick Wilson, Cheryl Davies, Carmen Timu-Parata, Virginia Signal, Michael G. Baker Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ’s) Alert Level system worked well in 2020, but the Covid-19 landscape is changing and the system needs to change with it to keep NZ ahead of the pandemic.  In this blog we summarise our just-published recommendations for strengthening the Alert Level system and … Read More

What’s the right Covid-19 risk to live with – an Australian perspective - Public Health Expert

Public Health Expert • Jul 14, 2021 •

• Australia,
• border control,
• COVID-19,
• modelling

Blog syndicated with permission from “The Pursuit” at Melbourne University, Australia By Professor Tony Blakely, Dr Tim Wilson and Associate Professor Vijaya Sundararajan, University of Melbourne As Australia looks toward opening its international borders, new virus modelling provides scenarios that can help us decide what’s the right risk to tolerate. As Australia inches up its vaccine rollout, … Read More

The changing COVID-19 situation in Taiwan – what can NZ learn from Taiwan’s latest outbreak? - Public Health Expert

Public Health Expert • Jul 13, 2021 •

• COVID-19,
• New Zealand stories,
• outbreak,
• taiwan

Jennifer Summers, Leah Grout, Michael Baker, Amanda Kvalsvig, Nick Wilson* (author details*) We previously published an assessment of Taiwan’s extremely effective response to COVID-19 during 2020. However, a recent surge of community cases in northern Taiwan from April 2021 onwards has resulted in an increasing mortality rate, with large scale restrictions imposed to bring the outbreak under control.  This COVID-19 … Read More

“Nudging” to improve QR scanning and mask wearing to protect us all during a pandemic - Public Health Expert

Public Health Expert • Jul 12, 2021 •

• COVID-19,
• mask use,
• New Zealand stories,
• QR code

Janet Hoek, Philip Gendall, Nick Wilson (author details*) A feature of Aotearoa New Zealand’s COVID-19 elimination strategy is the rapid identification and then management of any COVID-19 cases arising from border system failures. Within the community, high QR code scanning rates enable rapid identification of contacts while wearing masks in indoor public settings, such as on public transport, reduces the … Read More

Condoms, vaccines and sport: how the Tokyo Olympics is sending mixed messages about COVID-19 safety - COVID-19

Guest Author • Jul 07, 2021 •

• COVID-19,
• Olympics

Maximilian de Courten, Victoria University and Hans Westerbeek, Victoria University   The Tokyo Olympics are less than three weeks away. And the pressure is on for the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Japan was just coming out of its fourth COVID-19 wave with about 1,400 new cases every day, but numbers are now rising again. This could turn into … Read More