Coronavirus: will the UK really have highest death toll in Europe, as a US study suggests?
Within four months, the UK will have 66,314 fatalities from COVID-19, according to a recent report from the University of Washingon’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). This would result in the UK having the highest number of fatalities out of any country in Europe – according to the report, more than Italy (a total of […]
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 the country has been testing more people, so they have more confirmed cases for the same number of fatalities. In many countries, only high-risk […]
Coronavirus: what the 2009 swine flu pandemic can tell us about the weeks to come
The first documented case of COVID-19 is thought to have appeared on December 1 2019 in Wuhan, China. Four months later, the world is in the middle of a pandemic with little idea of what comes next. Yet this is not the first pandemic to occur in recent years. On March 17 2009, the first case […]
Why are there so few coronavirus cases in Russia and Africa?
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in Wuhan, China in December 2019, we have seen the virus spread to over 160 countries. Several countries have experienced large outbreaks, including China, South Korea, Italy, Iran, Spain and France, with the US and UK seeing rapidly increasing numbers. But most countries in the world have reported very few to no […]
A Clear Call for Government Action
The editors of Nature have recently published an excellent and clear discussion of the three things governments around the world need to do in order to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic: – “Follow the World Health Organization’s advice”. As the WHO Director-General has said, “you can’t fight a virus if you don’t know where it […]
Coronavirus: Can herd immunity really protect us?
The UK government recently enacted its second phase of response to the COVID-19 pandemic: “delay”. According to ITV journalist Robert Peston, the government’s strategy to minimise the impact of COVID-19 “is to allow the virus to pass through the entire population so that we acquire herd immunity, but at a much delayed speed so that those […]
Will warmer weather stop the spread of coronavirus?
As the coronavirus death toll continues to rise, some have suggested that the approaching warmer spring weather in the northern hemisphere may slow or even stop the spread of the disease. US president Donald Trump echoed this, saying: “The heat, generally speaking, kills this kind of virus.” But is he right? The idea that the approaching spring […]
Novel Coronavirus (Covid19) Update
On the 1st of February, RAN reported on the outbreak of Coronavirus originating in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, and its implications for the region and the globe. In the two weeks since, the virus has gathered pace, and more is being learnt about its epidemiology and pathology. Termed Covid19 by the WHO on the 11th of […]
Novel Coronavirus (nCoV) in China – Implications for Health and Communities
On the 8th of December 2019, Chinese authorities reported an instance of pneumonia of unknown origin. The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed the presence of a novel coronavirus in the lungs of a hospitalised individual on the 9th of January 2020, and indicated it as the causative agent of disease. The origin of the virus, presently called […]
Community support for COVID-19 responses and recovery
The on-going COVID-19 pandemic requires international collaborative effort in order to protect communities and support their recovery. Research-Aid Networks has been working with a range of partner organizations to support local actions and international advocacy. At a local level Research-Aid Networks is facilitating: – Vaccine confidence. Research-Aid Networks is working with local partners, the Global […]
