Researchers at the University of Cambridge say our future global food supply cannot be safeguarded by traditional approaches to improving food production. They suggest state-of-the-art, controlled-environment systems, producing novel foods, should be […]
Infectious diseases and social distancing in nature
Forager ants do it, vampire bats do it, guppies do it, and mandrills do it. Long before humans learned about and started “social distancing due to COVID-19,” animals in nature intuitively practiced […]
Is reaching zero COVID-19 possible?
Most scientists agree that stringent control measures, involving efficient contact tracing, testing and isolation, together with social distancing and mask wearing, are required to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2. South Korea, Taiwan, China and New Zealand have all […]
Largest study confirms children significantly less likely to catch Covid-19
In this study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, the researchers have updated their previous systematic review and meta-analysis, published as a preprint in May, to encompass more than 13,900 studies, to understand how likely […]
Human interactions with wild and farmed animals must change dramatically to reduce risk of another deadly pandemic
Compiled by a team of international wildlife and veterinary experts, a new study has identified seven routes by which pandemics could occur and 161 options for reducing the risk. It concludes that […]
How are our behaviours changing in lockdown?
People have had to change their lifestyles to maintain a sense of normality during lockdown, and it is clear from social media that people are finding innovative ways to keep active, stay […]
The US Turn for the Worst
As COVID-19 case numbers are rising in more than half of the states in the US, experts are now predicting 180,000 deaths by October 1, USA Today reports. A universal mask-wearing order in the US, however, […]
Coronavirus: fake news less of a problem than confusing government messages – new study
Studies have suggested social media is rife with disinformation, with surveys showing a high proportion of people have been exposed to false or misleading claims about COVID-19, fuelling dramatic headlines. But our six-week diary study of news […]
Study identifies 275 ways to reduce spread of coronavirus following lockdown
Phased re-opening of schools, businesses and open spaces should be considered alongside a range of practical ways to keep people physically apart, say the authors of a new study on how lockdown […]
China says nearly 1,300 virus deaths not counted in Wuhan, cites early lapses
Nearly 1,300 people who died of the coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan, or half the total, were not counted in death tolls because of lapses, state media said on Friday, […]
Coronavirus: Why is Germany’s fatality rate so low?
Germany has received a great deal of attention for having a lower death rate for COVID-19 than most comparable European countries. A simple explanation for the low case-fatality rate in Germany is that […]
BMJ study suggests 78% of people with Covid-19 don’t show symptoms
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, with 1.4 million cases and almost 75,000 deaths reported worldwide as of April 7. To slow down the spread and reduce mortality, governments across the world […]
Aggressive Testing Is Vital to Controlling the Spread of COVID19 and Saving Europe’s Economy
In a novel approach to analysing the impact of the COVID19 pandemic sweeping the world, the Brussels and Washington DC based healthcare consultancy Vital Transformation (VT) compared the strategies adopted by several […]
What does lockdown mean for the future of our food supply?
With COVID-19 dominating the news for several weeks, many of us would have anticipated the inevitable lockdown announcement made by the UK Prime Minister on the 23rd March. There was quite rightly much […]