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COVID-19: The Indian State of Kerala is a Beacon to the World

By Vijay Prashad and Subin Dennis *

This article is taken from Countercurrents which published it on March 27. The article was produced by Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

KOLKATA (IDN) – K.K. Shailaja is the health minister in the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala, the state in the southwest of India that has a population of 35 million people. On January 25, 2020, she convened a high-level meeting to discuss the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. What had particularly worried her is that there were many students from Kerala studying in that province of China.

: Suresh Jaura; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 29 March 2020

Photo: Health workers are at the frontlines in the fight against the new Corona Virus. Credit: Africa Renewal.

Protect Health Workers Serving Like Soldiers At the Frontlines Against COVID-19

Viewpoint by Siddharth Chatterjee and Mutahi Kagwe

Mr. Mutahi Kagwe is the Cabinet Secretary for Health in Kenya and Siddharth Chatterjee is the United Nations Resident Coordinator to Kenya. This article was first published in Africa Renewal on 24 March 2020.

NAIROBI (IDN) – Many soldiers have seen first-hand the horrors of war and, terrifying though it often was, they knew who they were fighting, and could recognise their enemy.

The COVID-19 or the new Corona Virus is different. In this virus we have an enemy which is invisible and sometimes deadly, and the task is harder.

: Africa & ME Editor; OPINION; 29 March 2020

Photo: Global food supply chains are complex and include these kale farmers in Uganda. Credit: Africa Renewal.

COVID-19: A Battle Plan for Ensuring Global Food Supplies

Africa Renewal Talks to FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero Cullen

NEW YORK (IDN) – The COVID-19 pandemic has put the world on a crisis footing, with unprecedented actions to restrict movements and plans for radical deployment of public funds to combat the threat posed by a novel coronavirus that knows no boundaries. Success will entail coherent and robust plans for our food systems. FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero Cullen outlines a framework for how countries can think about and craft these plans.

: Africa Renewal; OPINION; 28 March 2020

COVID-19: Artificial Intelligence to Back Up Data-Driven Response in Africa

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – The epicentre of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic has moved from China to Europe and the United States. But it has not spared Africa. "It will victimise particularly communities living in poverty who have no protection and no access to health care," says Prof. Dr. Mirjam van Reisen who chairs 'Computing for Society' at the Leiden University.

The public research university in the Netherlands has joined universities in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Zimbabwe in the Virus Outbreak Data Africa Network (VODAN) FAIR Data initiative.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; Africa; 27 March 2020

Image credit: Sven Simon | Deutschlandfunk

COVID-19: Bio-Warfare Conspiracy Theories Need Investigation

Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) – With the new coronavirus now known as COVID-19 becoming a global pandemic affecting countries around the world, with epicentres in western countries, various conspiracy theories have emerged and are gaining traction both in social media and the mainstream. Rather than dismissing these, all such theories may need close examination by independent bodies to keep the world safer from such biological warfare fears.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 26 March 2020

COVID-19: Kenya Urged to Take 'Swift & Effective' Public Finance Response

By James Muraguri

The writer is CEO of the Institute of Public Finance, Kenya, & an Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity.

NAIROBI (IDN) – On March 12, 2020, the first case of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was confirmed in Kenya. Over the next eleven days, 16 more cases were confirmed. Based on precedents elsewhere, we know this pandemic could set in motion an economic crisis that will burden Kenya for a long time to come.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 26 March 2020

Photo: A new hybrid car model. Credit: Volkswagen.

Hybrid Cars and the Myth of Zero-Emission Driving

By J W Jackie

RENO, Nevada, USA (IDN) – Emissions from the new generation of hybrid cars are 31 percent higher than those from the previous generation. While the demand for larger vehicles appears to be the driving force, this discrepancy is part of a larger problem that the most eco-conscious hybrid owners are acutely aware of: that hybrids aren't as eco-friendly as they thought. Hybrid carmakers are under fire for giving buyers a wrong impression of their cars' emission-reduction capabilities.

: Admin; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 26 March 2020

Photo: ESCAP Executive Secretary Armida Salsiah Alisjahb addressing a gathering in 2019. Credit: UNESCAP.

UN Aims at Writing A Greener Story in Asia and the Pacific

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana.

The writer is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP.

BANGKOK (IDN) – Rising economic prosperity and poverty reduction may not tell the whole story of progress in Asia and the Pacific. Telling signs in the natural world recount a narrative that is far from complete. This year has been particularly affected by the COVID-19 global health pandemic, with devastating impacts on our health and the economy. Yet, building on its achievements, the region must continue its drive towards a sustainable conclusion.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 25 March 2020

Photo: A deserted street in Cairo after the government ordered the closure of shops, restaurants and cafes. Credit: Ziad Ahmed/NurPhoto via Getty Images

One-Size-Fits All Approach to COVID-19 Could Have Lethal Consequences for Africa

Viewpoint by Alex Broadbent and Benjamin T.H. Smart*

JOHANNESBURG (IDN) – Suppose you had the choice between two health policies, A and B. Policy A would result in the death of a lot of elderly people. Policy B would result in the death of a lot of children, especially infants. Which would you choose?

Right now we are facing a choice between more or less drastic measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, a virus which, at the time of writing, has yet to claim a life under 10, and claims very few lives under 30, with the risk rising exponentially with age.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 25 March 2020

Photo: Screenshot of the UN chief calling for an immediate global ceasefire. Credit: UN WebTV.

UN Chief's Call for Global Ceasefire Gathering Support

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) – In a clarion call for "an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world", UN Secretary-General António Guterres on March 23 urged warring parties across the world to lay down their weapons in support of the bigger battle against COVID-19: the common enemy that is now threatening all of humankind.

The ceasefire would allow humanitarians to reach populations that are most vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19, which first emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and has now been reported in more than 180 countries. So far, there are nearly 300,000 cases worldwide, and more than 12,700 deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).