Bring out the robots Given, the extremely contagious nature of COVID-19, it is very hard to directly attend to patients and potential cases without protective clothing. With this in mind, researchers at the Tsinghua University in China claim to have created a robot that can aid doctors in such scenarios.
Hugh Breakey Griffith University As the country moves into lockdown mode in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are increasingly faced with serious ethical questions about what ordinary people should be obliged to do for others. These challenges can perhaps best be seen in the outrage as people flocked to
Welcome to the daily BFD community noticeboard. I expect how we use it to develop as the weeks pass. For now, I am thinking that it will be: 1. A place to notify others of COVID-19 related news in their areas 2. A place to arrange for help for those
Katharine H. Greenaway University of Melbourne Alexander Saeri Monash University Tegan Cruwys Australian National University We are now a society at a distance. As of this week, New South Wales has closed restaurants, bars, gyms, and entertainment venues where people gather in large numbers. Victoria has similarly implemented a shut
Living in Queenstown is seen by many as being the ultimate idyllic lifestyle choice. For sure it’s a great place to live: the mountains, the lakes, the fresh air, and million-dollar views for “only $1.89 million”, what’s not to like? Well, for one thing, the cold! Unless
The media sob stories about stranded Kiwis are getting on my nerves. There are a couple of stand out examples. The first is the family of tossers who went on a skiing holiday in Northern Italy at the beginning of March. You know, when Italy’s case count was already
This is the best and clearest explanation of why people need to stay at home you could ever wish to see pic.twitter.com/49MgadlctI — Alan White (@aljwhite) March 22, 2020
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Can we call it germ warfare, yet? While many people are getting into the habit of “social distancing” (people at the checkouts at Chemist Warehouse today were neatly spaced a metre or more apart), there are some notable exceptions. There is a disturbing incidence of people not just ignoring pleas
Welcome to the daily BFD community noticeboard. I expect how we use it to develop as the weeks pass. For now, I am thinking that it will be: 1. A place to notify others of COVID-19 related news in their areas 2. A place to arrange for help for those
New Zealand is now in a State of National Emergency, after 50 new cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus were confirmed today, bringing the total to 205. * Temporary visas will be extended until late September * Every New Zealander coming through the borders will be screened * Some showing symptoms or failing to
Mark Boris Johnson recently made a lockdown announcement a lot like Jacinda Ardern’s only a few days after. But there is one major difference One comment Boris made whilst assuring the people that essential services, like supermarkets, will remain open during the lockdown, was that people need to use
New Zealand is currently at Alert Level 3. We are preparing and will move to Alert Level 4 at 11.59 pm on Wednesday 25 March. More information on our alert level Government COVID-19 Response Briefing Ministry of Health Update: * 50 new confirmed and probable cases in NZ – 47 are
I applaud the Prime Minister and her government for her actions in recognizing the seriousness of the coronavirus and now moving rapidly to alert level 4 – shutting down the country this Wednesday. Phew, not before time. However, being of the left persuasion she must find it painful to have to
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It’s practically a re-run of HBO’s hit drama of last year, Chernobyl: an authoritarian regime magnifies what might have been a mere disaster into a potentially globe-threatening catastrophe, due to its obsessive secrecy and culture of cover-up, lies and blame-shifting. The only big difference is that the actual
