Michelle Grattan talks with Deputy Vice Chancellor Geoff Crisp about the week in politics, including the “sports rorts” affair, the future of Michael McCormack and the corona virus travel ban.
The official naming of COVID-19 has the tone of a committee decision. Historically, names for diseases have not been quite so well thought out and were more likely to offend.
Researchers around the world are working together to control the coronavirus outbreak, now known as COVID-19. This is what’s behind the global effort to develop a vaccine.
Frontier research initiatives to tackle the 2019 coronavirus seem to be dominated by institutions in China, the US, Japan and labs across Europe. Very little seem to be coming form Indonesia.
While US residents may feel safe from the effects of the coronavirus, the aftershocks could be damaging in unexpected ways. The disruption to China’s supply chain could cause drug shortages.
As cities have shut down and residential compounds have issued curfews, social media in China have become more important than ever. But it is a place of rumours and mistruths.
Misinformation spreads fast when people are afraid and a contagious and potentially fatal disease is frightening. This provides the ideal emotionally charged context for rumours to thrive.
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne