COVID-19

South African President C. Ramaphosa demonstrating greeting by elbow. Credit: 2oceansvibe.com

Coronavirus Reaches African Shores

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Only a few weeks ago, African leaders were breathing a sigh of relief as the new coronavirus skipped the continent to lodge in Italy, Spain and other European countries.

“Whether it’s a matter of faulty detection, climatic factors or simple fluke, the remarkably low rate of coronavirus infection in African countries, with their fragile health systems, continues to puzzle,” said Amadou Alpha Sall, head of the Pasteur Institute in Dakar, Senegal.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 17 March 2020

Image: 1984 awardees of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for theories concerning "the specificity in development and control of the immune system” and the discovery of “the principle for production of monoclonal antibodies". Credit: Nobelprize.org

A COVID-19 Vaccine Quickly and Cheaply Is Possible

Viewpoint by John Scales Avery*

The writer is a theoretical chemist noted for his research publications in quantum chemistry.

COPENHAGEN (IDN) – Public health experts say that if the COVID-19 epidemic is not successfully contained, it could become a global pandemic, perhaps spreading to 80% of the world's population. With a 1% mortality rate, this would mean that 70 million people would die of the disease. With a 2% mortality rate, the total number of deaths would be twice that number, 140 million people. Comparable numbers of people have died in the tragic wars and pandemics of the past. There is a serious danger that it might happen again.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 16 March 2020

Photo: Inmates in a Orleans Parish Prison yard. CC BY 2.0

US Prison Conditions Risk Intense Coronavirus Outbreak

By Julia Conley, Staff Writer Common Dreams

WASHINGTON. D.C. (IDN) – Prisoners' rights advocates are warning that the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. may soon have dire implications for the 2.2 million people living in the American penal system, as prison officials across the country shared little about their plans to keep inmates safe and many of the precautions Americans are being advised to take are unavailable in detention facilities.

: J C Suresh; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 14 March 2020

Photo: Tents of the homeless on the sidewalk in Skid Row, Los Angeles. CC BY-SA 4.0

Interconnected Dangers to Civilization

Viewpoint by John Scales Avery*

COPENHAGEN (IDN) – Cultural evolution depends on the non-genetic storage, transmission, diffusion and utilization of information. The development of human speech, the invention of writing, the development of paper and printing, and finally, in modern times, computers and the Internet: all these have been crucial steps in society's explosive accumulation of information and knowledge. Human cultural evolution proceeds at a constantly-accelerating speed, so great in fact that it threatens to shake society to pieces.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 13 March 2020

25 Years on From Beijing, COVID-19 Highlights Profound Interconnectedness & Persisting Inequalities

Viewpoint by Anita Nayar and Aishu Balaji

Anita Nayar is Director and Aishu Balaji Program Coordinator of Regions Refocus. This article is based on the civil society statement delivered at the opening of CSW64/Beijing+25 by Anita Nayar, also Co-Chair of the Gender and Trade Coalition.

NEW YORK (IDN) – On March 9, 2020, New York-based government delegates met at the United Nations (UN) under very different circumstances than originally imagined: with a reduced interim program that excluded global civil society and country-based government representatives due to the postponement of the 64th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW64) under threat of COVID-19.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 11 March 2020

Photo: Jardim Constantino in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Credit: UN News/Ana Carmo.

From Coronavirus to Climate and Gender Equality

By J Nastranis with UN News in Brief

NEW YORK (IDN)— As the coronavirus continues to spread globally, the UN's top human rights official Michelle Bachelet appealed on March 6 to countries and businesses to put rights "front and centre" to protect their most vulnerable citizens. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that although the virus would likely have an impact on greenhouse gas emissions because of the expected global economic slowdown, it was too soon to say how great that impact might be.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 10 March 2020

Photo: An Indonesian man who arrived at Seletar Airport on March 7, was the first traveller detected to be infected with the coronavirus using the new Singapore-developed Covid-19 nasal swab test kit. Source: Mothership

Singapore's Fight Against the Coronavirus on Social Media

Viewpoint by Archana Atmakuri

The writer is a Research Analyst at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) at the National University of Singapore. This opinion piece first appeared on East Asia Forum on 6 March 2020.

SINGAPORE (IDN) — Over 60 countries are now fighting confirmed and suspected cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), with the highest number of cases outside China recorded in South Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan as of today. Singapore has 117 confirmed cases but 80 patients have recovered as of 5 March.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 09 March 2020

Photo: The tourist sector in Perth, the Australian city closest to Asia with a travel time of between 3 to 4 hours, is also affected by the impact of coronavirus. Credit: Dietmar Rabich. CC BY-SA 4.0

Coronavirus Exposes Australia's Economic Dependence on China

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — Australia hasn't had a recession for 29 years. Economists are now warning that the coronavirus (COVID-19) is almost certainly driving the country towards it and thus exposing Australia's heavy dependence on China for its economic prosperity.

Until the mid-1970s Australians were paranoid about a 'yellow peril' (the Chinese takeover) and practiced a 'White Australia' policy that kept Asians away from migrating to the vast continent.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 07 March 2020

New UN Women Report Warns That Gender Equality Is Under Threat — Major Women Conference Falls Prey to Coronavirus

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) —While a new UN Women report warns that progress towards gender equality is faltering and hard-won advances are being reversed, the 64th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) has fallen prey to concerns regarding coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

CSW is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. A functional commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), it was established by ECOSOC resolution 11(II) of 21 June 1946.

: Caroline Mwanga; UN INSIDER; 05 March 2020

COVID-19: Switching to Airplane Mode — Life Lessons From the Unchartered

Viewpoint by Nisar Keshvani

SINGAPORE (IDN) — Like many others around the world, life took an unexpected turn around Lunar New Year. With the world health situation suddenly becoming unpredictable, we've had to adapt to new scenarios, almost by the hour, based on new information. I feel privileged to be in my communications role — effecting interventions, and more often than not, shaping them.

We've had to make tough calls — re-engineer the norm, implement uncomfortable measures, address fixed perceptions and mindsets, adapt to the unknown – together walk into unchartered territory.