They’re Doing It Right Table of Contents
- 1 They’re Doing It Right
- 2 COVID-19: We’re seeing the best of Canada’s public servants when it matters most
- 3 Czech Republic unveils lockdown exit strategy as it declares victory over Covid-19
- 4 All-Ireland exit strategy for Covid-19 restrictions is best, says expert
- 5 China just lifted its lockdown on Wuhan
- 6 The Asian Countries That Beat Covid-19 Have to Do It Again
- 7 This Is How We Can Beat the Coronavirus
They’re Doing It Right
Whether it was the strong, bold quarantine measures of China and New Zealand, the intricate contact tracing of China and South Korea or the early adoption of masks of … China, South Korea, Singapore, and the Czech Republic, some places managed to respect COVID-19 enough early on, take precautionary approaches to new information and train their population to be astronauts in time to mitigate a widespread outbreak. They deserve praise and their methods need to be universally employed. If you know someone that’s doing it right, tweet @therealjorahkai and we’ll share it!
COVID-19: We’re seeing the best of Canada’s public servants when it matters most
“But when this crisis subsides, Canada’s public servants should not go all the way back to normal. They should be empowered to continue embracing uncertainty, learning through experimentation, and continuing to work more collaboratively across sectors and jurisdictions to bring different perspectives to the table.”
Czech Republic unveils lockdown exit strategy as it declares victory over Covid-19
Prague says masks must still be worn as it releases timetable for reopening society
Health workers wearing protective face masks watch a member of the contemporary circus company Cirk La Putyka perform at the courtyard of a hospital in Prague, Czech Republic. Photograph: Martin Divisek/EPA
The Czech Republic has unveiled detailed plans for a phased reopening of businesses and schools, after becoming one of the first countries in Europe to declare that it had brought the coronavirus outbreak under control.
The Czech government imposed a state of emergency on March 12th in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and shut down borders, schools, pubs and restaurants and most shops, and made it mandatory for the country’s 10.6 million people to wear face masks in public spaces.
All-Ireland exit strategy for Covid-19 restrictions is best, says expert
If UK follows successful New Zealand model, it could help foster all-island approach
The successful easing of restrictions in Ireland will involve ‘no border’ thinking on the island, says Prof Sam McConkey
There is much unfinished business to be dealt with quickly before Ireland can begin to ease coronavirus restrictions, according to University of Limerick professor of general practice Liam Glynn.
While the critical question is how this can be done in a way that minimises the risk of a Covid-19 resurgence, in the meantime people should be required to use masks in public, border controls should be strengthened and contact tracing ramped up, he says.
In addition, a robust testing regime must be in place, backed by technology, including an app that will allow public health authorities to directly alert individuals if data taken from their smartphones suggest they have been in close contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19.
This app “has been in the pipeline for weeks” but has yet to be delivered, Glynn says.
China just lifted its lockdown on Wuhan
On Wednesday, China ended the months-long lockdown in Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus outbreak first began.
The city and its 11 million people had been under a strict lockdown for over 10 weeks. On Jan. 23, China blocked the borders of Wuhan — not allowing anyone in or out — a couple of days prior to China’s Lunar New Year, a holiday that typically prompts millions of people to travel, Live Science previously reported.
The Asian Countries That Beat Covid-19 Have to Do It Again
ON ANY DIGITAL dashboard tracking the spread of Covid-19, on any graphic comparing country-by-country case curves or death tolls, they were the champs. Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea—leaders there saw what was headed their way from China in the early days of the new coronavirus, before it became a pandemic. They remembered what happened two decades ago with SARS: People died, economies suffered. So they locked down their immigration hardest and soonest, deployed public health workers to follow up contacts of cases, got their hospitals shored up, and started publishing clear and consistent information and data. They flattened their curves before the rest of the world understood there would be curves to flatten. But in recent weeks, those curves have taken another chilling turn. The numbers of new cases in these places are creeping upward.
Caretakers at the city’s ubiquitous large apartment buildings were pressed into service as ad hoc security guards, monitoring the temperatures of all residents, deciding who could come in and implementing inspections of delivered food and medicines.
While many watched the coronavirus spread across the globe with disinterest for months, in the past week, most of us have finally realized it will disrupt our way of life. A recent analysis from Imperial College is now making some Americans, including many experts, panic. The report projects that 2.2 million people could die in the United States. But the analysis also provides reason for hope—suggesting a path forward to avoid the worst outcomes.
We can make things better; it’s not too late. But we have to be willing to act.