pandemic Simon Property Group slashes executive pay due to coronavirus pandemic By rssfeeds.indystar.com Published On :: Fri, 03 Apr 2020 17:34:32 +0000 Securities and Exchange Commission filings detail executive pay cuts for Simon Property Group executives as forced closures impact business operations Full Article
pandemic Grocery store operating hours, latest shopping changes during the coronavirus pandemic By rssfeeds.indystar.com Published On :: Wed, 29 Apr 2020 17:40:57 +0000 Here's how grocery stores are trying to accommodate shoppers with new hours, special times for at-risk customers and other changes as of April 29. Full Article
pandemic Restaurants are selling groceries during the coronavirus pandemic. Here's what's available. By rssfeeds.indystar.com Published On :: Fri, 17 Apr 2020 12:24:02 +0000 Restaurants struggling during the coronavirus pandemic are becoming grocery stores to survive. Here's where to score groceries around Indianapolis. Full Article
pandemic Photos: How the central Indiana restaurant industry is reacting to a pandemic By rssfeeds.indystar.com Published On :: Sun, 22 Mar 2020 00:04:16 +0000 Restaurants and bars in central Indiana respond to the coronavirus, or COVID-19, health pandemic while operating under state-issued restrictions. Full Article
pandemic For downtown Franklin, Historic Artcraft Theater must survive pandemic By rssfeeds.indystar.com Published On :: Fri, 24 Apr 2020 11:50:09 +0000 Empty seats. Silent screens. How Franklin's Artcraft Theater is weathering the pandemic. Full Article
pandemic Drive-in restaurants are an experience mostly unchanged during coronavirus pandemic By rssfeeds.indystar.com Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 11:43:05 +0000 During the coronavirus pandemic, it's business as usual at Mug-N-Bun restaurant, and Historic Steer In embraces its drive-in roots. Full Article
pandemic With ban on dine-in, Indianapolis drive-in restaurants rocking, rolling during pandemic By rssfeeds.indystar.com Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 10:51:16 +0000 These restaurants are turning Indiana's ban on dining in restaurants to their favor by throwing back to olden days with drive-up service. Full Article
pandemic Here's what Greenwood looks like during the coronavirus pandemic By rssfeeds.indystar.com Published On :: Mon, 13 Apr 2020 20:09:52 +0000 Here's what Greenwood looks like during coronavirus pandemic Full Article
pandemic 'We're the anchor': Why Franklin's Historic Artcraft Theater must survive the pandemic By rssfeeds.indystar.com Published On :: Fri, 24 Apr 2020 23:31:00 +0000 The Historic Artcraft Theater in Franklin has to survive the pandemic shutdown. The downtown economy depends on it. Full Article
pandemic Clubs may have to 'share resources' when game restarts after pandemic By www.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 07:35:48 GMT The controversial concept of B teams may be back on the agenda as football tries to navigate a way through Covid-19, Brighton technical director Dan Ashworth says. Full Article
pandemic Colts hold virtual sessions during pandemic By rssfeeds.indystar.com Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 15:35:05 +0000 Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard discusses the team's workouts during the pandemic. Full Article
pandemic Does pandemic offer US and Iran chance for partial reset? By www.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 02:15:00 GMT Jonathan Marcus looks at whether the crisis might lead to some rapprochement between the arch-foes. Full Article
pandemic Ottawa Public Health 'concerned' about long-term care homes during COVID-19 pandemic By ottawa.ctvnews.ca Published On :: Fri, 8 May 2020 19:01:00 -0400 Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vera Etches says hospital staff are providing support to long-term care homes hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Full Article
pandemic Gatineau Park reopens to local users during COVID-19 pandemic By ottawa.ctvnews.ca Published On :: Sat, 9 May 2020 04:00:00 -0400 For the first time in six weeks, Gatineau Park is open to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic. Full Article
pandemic How the world’s political artists are depicting the covid-19 pandemic By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Wed, 18 Mar 2020 12:05:33 +0000 Symbolism, face masks and the Grim Reaper abound. Full Article
pandemic Seven ‘Twilight Zone’ episodes that are eerily timely during the coronavirus pandemic By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Sat, 28 Mar 2020 11:00:44 +0000 "The Twilight Zone" delved into how human behavior changes in times of crisis. Full Article
pandemic San Diego Comic-Con canceled because of coronavirus pandemic By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Fri, 17 Apr 2020 19:18:06 +0000 For the first time in 50 years there won't be a San Diego Comic Con. Full Article
pandemic The Grim Reaper shows up often in pandemic cartoons — whether to provoke or provide dark humor By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 10:00:49 +0000 Some cartoonists try to deliver a political shock. Others want to deliver levity in this trying time. Full Article
pandemic News24.com | Egypt reopens slowly to revive pandemic-hit economy By www.news24.com Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 10:05:10 +0200 Egypt's economy had just started to recover after years of political turmoil and militant attacks when the coronavirus crisis hit, impacting especially its vital tourism sector. Full Article
pandemic News24.com | Ethiopia's Abiy warns of opposition power grab amid pandemic By www.news24.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 13:26:49 +0200 Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has said that opposition politicians were trying to exploit uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic to seize power, risking instability. Full Article
pandemic How fighting one pandemic can deepen another By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 12:00:17 +0000 Full Article
pandemic Saving lives in the pandemic will also save the economy in the long run By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 30 Mar 2020 23:06:59 +0000 Economists are in agreement that returning to business as usual too soon could have devastating effects for GDP as well as human lives. Full Article
pandemic The covid-19 pandemic has revealed another area of critical government underinvestment By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 13 Apr 2020 23:12:20 +0000 Archaic computer technology is hampering the effort to combat the effects of covid-19 in the United States. Full Article
pandemic This ‘dreamer’ is saving lives during this pandemic. She wants a chance at normal life. By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Thu, 16 Apr 2020 23:21:02 +0000 Young medical students and health-care workers simply want to keep contributing in the only home they know. Full Article
pandemic Shielding your business in a pandemic By feeds.searchengineland.com Published On :: Tue, 05 May 2020 14:15:32 +0000 SEO is one of the best channels to invest in right now to attract new customers and reinforce the loyalty of your existing client base. Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article. Full Article
pandemic News24.com | Covid-19 wrap | China slams US after Trump virus 'attack' claim, India repatriation to begin and Poland, Syria postpone elections due to pandemic By www.news24.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 14:57:56 +0200 Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis. Full Article
pandemic News24.com | Brave new world: could pandemic lead to positive change? By www.news24.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 08:49:20 +0200 Major social advances have often emerged from the depths of disaster: the Black Death brought an end to serfdom, and Britain's welfare state emerged from the ruins of World War II. Full Article
pandemic News24.com | China supports WHO-led review of global pandemic response By www.news24.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 20:11:02 +0200 China says it supports a World Health Organisation-led review into the global response to the coronavirus outbreak, but only "after the pandemic is over". Full Article
pandemic Channel24.co.za | Ciara gives pregnant women advice during the Covid-19 pandemic By www.channel24.co.za Published On :: Wed, 29 Apr 2020 06:47:32 +0200 Ciara offers pregnancy advice to expecting moms during the Covid-19 pandemic Full Article
pandemic Biden’s Lead in Poll Tumbles as Trump Gains Support for Pandemic Response By www.westernjournal.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 20:42:27 +0000 A newly released Reuters/Ipsos poll evaluating President Donald Trump and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in a head-to-head matchup shows troubling news for Biden. According to the poll, a lead once enjoyed by Biden has completely “evaporated,” while Trump’s numbers continue to ascend. Reuters/Ipsos said that “Joe Biden’s advantage over President Donald Trump in… The post Biden’s Lead in Poll Tumbles as Trump Gains Support for Pandemic Response appeared first on The Western Journal. Full Article Commentary 2020 election Democrats Donald Trump independent voters Joe Biden Politics polls Republicans US News
pandemic ‘Man of God’ NFL Star Points Out Things To Be Grateful for During the Pandemic: ‘There’s So Much’ By www.westernjournal.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 21:58:25 +0000 During times of panic and suffering, it is important to take a step back and remember that “God is always in control.” One NFL star known for proudly displaying his faith made that message quite clear during an episode of the Fox Nation show “Bible Study: Messages of Hope” which debuted this week. Demario Davis,… The post ‘Man of God’ NFL Star Points Out Things To Be Grateful for During the Pandemic: ‘There’s So Much’ appeared first on The Western Journal. Full Article Lifestyle News Sports Christianity Coronavirus Faith God Health New Orleans Saints NFL US News
pandemic Artists donate free, uplifting images to the UN in pandemic response By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 15:37:53 +0000 The internet is a scary enough place as it is, and now with the added misinformation and panic surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, it's even scarier. Thanks to the United Nations and dozens of artists, however, the internet just got a little more beautiful. In late March, the UN put a call out to artists to help combat the spread of COVID-19. They sought creatives to create content around six areas of WHO and UN priority actions: personal hygiene, social distancing, knowing the symptoms, spreading kindness, myth-busting, and doing more/donating. Tens of thousands of artists answered the call in two weeks, and now the COVID-19 Response Creative Content Hub is available for browsing. Read more...More about Art, United Nations, Activism, Coronavirus, and Covid 19 Full Article Art United Nations Activism Coronavirus Covid 19
pandemic The surreal experience of flying during a pandemic By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 09:54:21 PDT "[F]lying during a pandemic turned out to be more stressful—and surreal—than I’d planned for," writes McKay Copkins in The Atlantic. After two months of social distancing Copkins went on a reporting trip that required a plane flight. He was looking forward to the trip, but as soon as he got on the plane he realized that air travel is no fun during a pandemic. I arrived at my assigned row, and found a stocky, gray-haired man in the seat next to mine. When I moved to sit down, he stopped me. “Sit there,” he said gruffly, pointing to the aisle behind us. “Social distance.” Not eager for a confrontation, I decided to comply. Within seconds, though, a flight attendant materialized and ordered me back to my assigned seat. My recalcitrant would-be seatmate, vigorously objecting to this development, responded by blocking my entrance to the row with his leg. Photo by Ethan McArthur on Unsplash Read the rest Full Article Post air travel coronavirus COVID-19
pandemic Stuck on cruise ships during pandemic, crews beg to go home By www.ctvnews.ca Published On :: Sat, 9 May 2020 06:18:00 -0600 Tens of thousands of other crew members have been trapped for weeks aboard dozens of cruise ships around the world -- long after governments and cruise lines negotiated their passengers' disembarkation. Some have gotten ill and died; others have survived but are no longer getting paid. Full Article
pandemic Where is Unemployment Slowing Faster During the Pandemic? By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 16:00:58 +0000 Where is Unemployment Slowing Faster During the... This post takes a deeper look at unemployment insurance claims and provides some additional insights into the labor market for each state. By: Nadia Evangelou Full Article
pandemic Newsroom: Time Spent with Media in China Grows amid COVID-19 Pandemic By www.emarketer.com Published On :: Fri, 24 Apr 2020 04:01:00 GMT Our Estimate for Time Spent with TV in 2020 Is Revised Upward by 5 Minutes April 24, 2020 (New York, NY) – Over the course of just a few months, […] Full Article
pandemic Legal landscape murky for B.C. workers and employers during pandemic By bc.ctvnews.ca Published On :: Fri, 8 May 2020 19:39:00 -0700 Labour laws haven’t changed in our province, but legal experts are already urging B.C. employers to be flexible and reasonable — while warning employees they may not be legally protected if they refuse work during the pandemic. Full Article
pandemic Will restaurants be allowed to offer alcohol for take-out and delivery after pandemic? By bc.ctvnews.ca Published On :: Sat, 9 May 2020 09:32:56 -0700 Restaurants have been struggling to stay afloat since the pandemic hit, but there has been a silver lining: relaxed liquor laws mean customers can get their booze delivered along with their meals. Full Article
pandemic Webinar: COVID-19 Pandemic Briefing By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Tue, 24 Mar 2020 12:20:01 +0000 Members Event Webinar 25 March 2020 - 10:00am to 10:45am Online Event participants Professor David Heymann CBE, Distinguished Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House; Executive Director, Communicable Diseases Cluster, World Health Organization (1998-03)Chair: Emma Ross, Senior Consulting Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House The coronavirus pandemic, first detected in Wuhan, China less than three months ago, continues to expand with most countries affected facing unprecedented social and economic impacts. At this juncture, what do we know – and what do we not know – about the COVID-19 pandemic? Join us for the first in a weekly series of interactive webinars on the coronavirus with Professor David Heymann helping us to understand the facts and make sense of the latest developments during the global crisis. Why are governments enacting different plans? Is elimination possible without a vaccine? For how long do restrictions need to last? And what happens next?Professor Heymann is a world-leading authority on infectious disease outbreaks. He led the World Health Organization’s response to SARS and has been advising the organization on its response to the coronavirus. Full Article
pandemic The G20’s Pandemic Moment By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Tue, 24 Mar 2020 16:57:35 +0000 24 March 2020 Jim O'Neill Chair, Chatham House The planned emergency meeting of the G20 leaders could be the beginning of smart, thoughtful, collective steps to get beyond this challenging moment in history. 2020-03-24-COVID-Vaccine A researcher works on a vaccine against coronavirus COVID-19 at the Copenhagen University research lab. Photo by THIBAULT SAVARY/AFP via Getty Images. Having chaired the independent (and global) Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Review for David Cameron, I know a similar approach should have been taken quickly about COVID-19.Similar not in precise nature but - in so far as incorporating infectious disease modelling, and using economic analysis to try to contain and solve it - it should be applied in parallel.The AMR Review is well-known for highlighting the potential loss of life as well as the economic costs of an escalating growth of resistance to antimicrobials, and the inaction to prevent it.In particular we showed that, by 2050, there could be around 10 million people each year dying from AMR, and an accumulated $100trn economic cost to the world from 2015 to 2050.Horrendous outcomesWhat is less focused on, as we showed in our final report, is that to prevent these horrendous outcomes, a 'mere' $42bn would need to be invested globally. This would give an investment return of something like 2,000%.I shudder to think what policymakers could do if we don’t make these investments and we reach a situation - possibly accelerated itself by escalating the inappropriate use of antibiotics in this COVID-19 crisis - where we run out of useful antibiotics. It will be a much longer time period to find new vaccines to beat COVID-19.In addition to this crisis, requiring G20 policymakers to back up their generous words about combatting AMR would mean they need to spend around $10bn instigating the generally agreed Market Incentive Awards to promote serious efforts by pharmaceutical companies.In fact, given that the financial crisis we are also now in means companies are greatly dependent on our governments for their future survival, perhaps the pharma Industry will finally understand the real world concept of 'Pay or Play', where companies that don’t try to find new antibiotics are taxed to provide the pool of money for others that are bold enough to try. And realise there is a world coming of different risk-rewards for all, including them.When applied to the COVID-19 challenge, it is useful to look at the required investment in accelerating as much as possible the efforts to find useful vaccines to beat it, but also to immediately introduce the therapeutics and diagnostics in countries that are so poorly prepared.Those Asian countries affected early include a number that seem to have coped so far in keeping the crisis to a minimum because they had the appropriate therapeutics and diagnostics, despite not having vaccines. A sum of approximately $10 bn from the G20 would be sufficient to cover all these vital areas.Now consider the economics of social distancing. As soon as it became apparent that our policymakers were heeding the Chinese method of trying to suppress COVID-19, it was immediately obvious that our economies would - at least for a short period - sustain the collapse of GDP that China self-imposed in February. From industrial production and other regular monthly data, the Chinese economy has declined by around 20%.It is quite likely many other economies - probably each of the G7 countries - will experience something not too dissimilar in March. And, to stop our complex democracies from further immediate pressure including social disharmony, governments in many countries have needed to undertake dramatic unconventional steps.Here in the UK, our new chancellor effectively had three budgets within less than a fortnight. And outside of the £330bn loan policy he has announced, at least £50bn worth of economic stimulus has been announced.Many other G20 countries have undertaken their own versions of what I call 'People’s QE', many of them bigger packages - the US appears to be contemplating a stimulus as much as $2 trillion.But, for the sake of illustration, if the UK package were the price for three months social distancing and this was repeated across the G20, then the total cost for all G20 countries - adjusted for relative size - would be in the vicinity of $1trillion.If this isn’t accompanied by steps involving the best therapeutics and diagnostics, and we have to keep everyone isolated for one year, it would become at least $4trillion.This may be 'back of the envelope' calculations which ignores the almost inevitable challenges for social cohesion in so many nations. But the G20 must spend something around $10bn immediately to put in absolute best standards all over the world, and another $10 bn to kickstart the market for new antibiotics.This is a version of an article that first appeared in Project Syndicate. Full Article
pandemic Webinar: Weekly COVID-19 Pandemic Briefing By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 26 Mar 2020 12:30:02 +0000 Members Event Webinar 1 April 2020 - 10:00am to 10:45am Online Event participants Professor David Heymann CBE, Distinguished Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House; Executive Director, Communicable Diseases Cluster, World Health Organization (1998-03)Chair: Emma Ross, Senior Consulting Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House The coronavirus pandemic, first detected in Wuhan, China over three months ago, continues to expand with most countries affected facing unprecedented social and economic impacts. At this moment, what do we know – and what do we not know – about the COVID-19 pandemic? Join us for the second in a series of interactive webinars on the coronavirus with Professor David Heymann helping us to understand the facts and make sense of the latest developments during the global crisis. This week we will be focusing on the issue of testing. To what extent has scientific understanding of the COVID-19 virus developed in the last week? How can the UK increase its testing capacity? What is the role of global cooperation in this pandemic and what does that really mean? Professor Heymann is a world-leading authority on infectious disease outbreaks. He led the World Health Organization’s response to SARS and has been advising the organization on its response to the coronavirus. This event is open to Chatham House Members only. Not a member? Find out more. Full Article
pandemic Webinar: Weekly COVID-19 Pandemic Briefing – The Role of International Collaboration By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 02 Apr 2020 10:05:01 +0000 Members Event Webinar 8 April 2020 - 11:30am to 12:15pm Online Event participants Professor David Heymann CBE, Distinguished Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House; Executive Director, Communicable Diseases Cluster, World Health Organization (1998-03)Chair: Emma Ross, Senior Consulting Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House The coronavirus pandemic, first detected in Wuhan, China, continues to expand with most countries affected facing unprecedented social and economic impacts. At this moment, what do we know – and what do we not know – about the COVID-19 pandemic? The third in a series of interactive webinars on the coronavirus with Professor David Heymann helping us to understand the facts and make sense of the latest developments during the global crisis. This week we will be focusing on the role of international collaboration, after briefly discussing key current debates, including the role of masks for the general population.Professor Heymann is a world-leading authority on infectious disease outbreaks. He led the World Health Organization’s response to SARS and has been advising the organization on its response to the coronavirus. Full Article
pandemic Webinar: Weekly COVID-19 Pandemic Briefing By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Tue, 07 Apr 2020 22:00:01 +0000 Members Event Webinar 15 April 2020 - 10:00am to 10:45am Online Event participants Professor David Heymann CBE, Distinguished Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House; Executive Director, Communicable Diseases Cluster, World Health Organization (1998-03)Chair: Emma Ross, Senior Consulting Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House The coronavirus pandemic, first detected in Wuhan, China, continues to expand with most countries affected facing unprecedented social and economic impacts. At this moment, what do we know – and what do we not know – about the COVID-19 pandemic? Join us for the fourth in a weekly series of interactive webinars on the coronavirus with Professor David Heymann helping us to understand the facts and make sense of the latest developments during the global crisis. The focus this week is on strategies for transitioning out of 'lockdown'.Professor Heymann is a world-leading authority on infectious disease outbreaks. He led the World Health Organization’s response to SARS and has been advising the organization on its response to the coronavirus. Full Article
pandemic Webinar: Big Data, AI and Pandemics By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Tue, 07 Apr 2020 22:30:01 +0000 Members Event Webinar 28 April 2020 - 5:00pm to 6:00pm Online Event participants David Aanensen, Director, The Centre for Genomic Pathogen SurveillanceMarietje Schaake, International Policy Director, Stanford University Cyber Policy CenterStefaan Verhulst, Co-Founder and Chief of Research and Development, NYU GovlabChair: Marjorie Buchser, Executive Director, Digital Society Initiative, Chatham House Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to benefit healthcare through a variety of applications including predictive care, treatment recommendations, identification of pathogens and disease patterns as well as the identification of vulnerable groups.With access to increasingly complex data sets and the rise of sophisticated pattern detection, AI could offer new means to anticipate and mitigate pandemics. However, the risks associated with AI such as bias, infringement on privacy and limited accountability become amplified under the pressurized lens of a global health crisis. Emergency measures often neglect standard checks and balances due to time-constraints. Whether temporary or permanent, AI applications during the epidemic have the potential to mark a watershed moment in human history and normalize the deployment of those tools with little public debate.This webinar discusses the nature of beneficial tech while also identifying issues that arise out of fast-tracking AI solutions during emergencies and pandemics. Can emerging tech help detect and fight viruses? Should surveillance tech be widely accepted and rolled out during times of a global health emergency? And how can policymakers act to ensure the responsible use of data without hindering AI’s full potential?This webinar is being run in collaboration with Chatham House’s Digital Society Initiative (DSI) and Centre for Universal Health. Our DSI brings together policy and technology communities to help forge a common understanding and jointly address the challenges that rapid advances in technology are causing domestic and international politics. The Centre for Universal Health is a multi-disciplinary centre established to help accelerate progress towards the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 in particular SDG 3: ‘To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages’. Full Article
pandemic Webinar: Weekly COVID-19 Pandemic Briefing By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 16 Apr 2020 09:35:01 +0000 Members Event 22 April 2020 - 10:00am to 10:45am Online Event participants Professor David Heymann CBE, Distinguished Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House; Executive Director, Communicable Diseases Cluster, World Health Organization (1998-03)Chair: Emma Ross, Senior Consulting Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House The fifth in a weekly series of interactive webinars on the coronavirus with Professor David Heymann helping us to understand the facts and make sense of the latest developments during the global crisis. The coronavirus pandemic continues expand and claim lives as it takes hold across the world. As countries grapple with how best to tackle the virus and the reverberations the pandemic is sending through their societies and economies, understanding of how the virus is behaving and what measures to combat it are working continues to advance. Professor Heymann is a world-leading authority on infectious disease outbreaks. He led the World Health Organization’s response to SARS and has been advising the organization on its response to the coronavirus. Members Events Team Email Full Article
pandemic Webinar: Weekly COVID-19 Pandemic Briefing – The Swedish Approach By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 23 Apr 2020 08:10:01 +0000 Members Event Webinar 29 April 2020 - 10:00am to 11:00am Online Event participants Professor Johan Giesecke, MD, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Karolinska Institute Medical University, Stockholm; State Epidemiologist, Sweden (1995-05)Professor David Heymann CBE, Distinguished Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House; Executive Director, Communicable Diseases Cluster, World Health Organization (1998-03)Chair: Emma Ross, Senior Consulting Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House The coronavirus pandemic continues to claim lives around the world. As countries grapple with how best to tackle the virus, and the reverberations the pandemic is sending through their societies and economies, scientific understanding of how the COVID-19 virus is behaving and what measures might best combat it continues to advance.Join us for the sixth in a weekly series of interactive webinars on the coronavirus with Professor David Heymann and special guest, Johan Giesecke, helping us to understand the facts and make sense of the latest developments in the global crisis. What strategy has Sweden embraced and why? Can a herd immunity strategy work in the fight against COVID-19? How insightful is it to compare different nations’ approaches and what does the degree of variation reveal?Professor Heymann is a world-leading authority on infectious disease outbreaks. He led the World Health Organization’s response to SARS and has been advising the organization on its response to the coronavirus. Professor Giesecke is professor emeritus of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the Karolinska Institute Medical University in Stockholm. He was state epidemiologist for Sweden from 1995 to 2005 and the first chief scientist of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) from 2005 to 2014. Full Article
pandemic Webinar: Weekly COVID-19 Pandemic Briefing – The Geopolitics of the Coronavirus By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 30 Apr 2020 09:10:01 +0000 Members Event Webinar 6 May 2020 - 10:00am to 10:45am Online Event participants Professor Ilona Kickbusch, Associate Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House; Founding Director and Chair, Global Health Centre, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies Professor David Heymann CBE, Distinguished Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House; Executive Director, Communicable Diseases Cluster, World Health Organization (1998-03)Chair: Emma Ross, Senior Consulting Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House The coronavirus pandemic continues to claim lives around the world. As countries grapple with how best to tackle the virus and the reverberations the pandemic is sending through their societies and economies, scientific understanding of how the coronavirus is behaving, and what measures might best combat it, continues to advance.Join us for the seventh in a weekly series of interactive webinars on the coronavirus with Professor David Heymann and special guest Professor Ilona Kickbusch helping us to understand the facts and make sense of the latest developments in the global crisis.What will the geopolitics of the pandemic mean for multilateralism? As the US retreats, what dynamics are emerging around other actors and what are the implications for the World Health Organization? Is the EU stepping up to play a bigger role in global health? Will the pandemic galvanize the global cooperation long called for?Professor Heymann is a world-leading authority on infectious disease outbreaks. He led the World Health Organization’s response to SARS and has been advising the organization on its response to the coronavirus. Professor Kickbusch is one of the world’s leading experts in global health diplomacy and governance. She advises international organizations, national governments, NGOs and the private sector on new directions and innovations in global health, governance for health and health promotion. Full Article
pandemic Coronavirus: Public Health Emergency or Pandemic – Does Timing Matter? By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 14:48:43 +0000 1 May 2020 Dr Charles Clift Senior Consulting Fellow, Global Health Programme @CliftWorks The World Health Organization (WHO) has been criticized for delaying its announcements of a public health emergency and a pandemic for COVID-19. But could earlier action have influenced the course of events? 2020-05-01-Tedros-WHO-COVID WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the COVID-19 press briefing on March 11, 2020, the day the coronavirus outbreak was classed as a pandemic. Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the spread of COVID-19 to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on January 30 this year and then characterized it as a pandemic on March 11.Declaring a PHEIC is the highest level of alert that WHO is obliged to declare, and is meant to send a powerful signal to countries of the need for urgent action to combat the spread of the disease, mobilize resources to help low- and middle-income countries in this effort and fund research and development on needed treatments, vaccines and diagnostics. It also obligates countries to share information with WHO.Once the PHEIC was declared, the virus continued to spread globally, and WHO began to be asked why it had not yet declared the disease a pandemic. But there is no widely accepted definition of a pandemic, generally it is just considered an epidemic which affects many countries globally.Potentially more deadlyThe term has hitherto been applied almost exclusively to new forms of flu, such as H1N1 in 2009 or Spanish flu in 1918, where the lack of population immunity and absence of a vaccine or effective treatments makes the outbreak potentially much more deadly than seasonal flu (which, although global, is not considered a pandemic).For COVID-19, WHO seemed reluctant to declare a pandemic despite the evidence of global spread. Partly this was because of its influenza origins — WHO’s emergency programme executive director said on March 9 that ‘if this was influenza, we would have called a pandemic ages ago’.He also expressed concern that the word traditionally meant moving — once there was widespread transmission — from trying to contain the disease by testing, isolating the sick and tracing and quarantining their contacts, to a mitigation approach, implying ‘the disease will spread uncontrolled’.WHO’s worry was that the world’s reaction to the word pandemic might be there was now nothing to be done to stop its spread, and so countries would effectively give up trying. WHO wanted to send the message that, unlike flu, it could still be pushed back and the spread slowed down.In announcing the pandemic two days later, WHO’s director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reemphasised this point: ‘We cannot say this loudly enough, or clearly enough, or often enough: all countries can still change the course of this pandemic’ and that WHO was deeply concerned ‘by the alarming levels of inaction’.The evidence suggests that the correct message did in fact get through. On March 13, US president Donald Trump declared a national emergency, referring in passing to WHO’s announcement. On March 12, the UK launched its own strategy to combat the disease. And in the week following WHO’s announcements, at least 16 other countries announced lockdowns of varying rigour including Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Spain and Switzerland. Italy and Greece had both already instituted lockdowns prior to the WHO pandemic announcement.It is not possible to say for sure that WHO’s announcement precipitated these measures because, by then, the evidence of the rapid spread was all around for governments to see. It may be that Italy’s dramatic nationwide lockdown on March 9 reverberated around European capitals and elsewhere.But it is difficult to believe the announcement did not have an effect in stimulating government actions, as was intended by Dr Tedros. Considering the speed with which the virus was spreading from late February, might an earlier pandemic announcement by WHO have stimulated earlier aggressive actions by governments?Declaring a global health emergency — when appropriate — is a key part of WHO’s role in administering the International Health Regulations (IHR). Significantly, negotiations on revisions to the IHR, which had been ongoing in a desultory fashion in WHO since 1995, were accelerated by the experience of the first serious coronavirus outbreak — SARS — in 2002-2003, leading to their final agreement in 2005.Under the IHR, WHO’s director-general decides whether to declare an emergency based on a set of criteria and on the advice of an emergency committee. IHR defines an emergency as an ‘extraordinary event that constitutes a public health risk through the international spread of disease and potentially requires a coordinated international response’.In the case of COVID-19, the committee first met on January 22-23 but were unable to reach consensus on a declaration. Following the director-general’s trip to meet President Xi Jinping in Beijing, the committee reconvened on January 30 and this time advised declaring a PHEIC.But admittedly, public recognition of what a PHEIC means is extremely low. Only six have ever been declared, with the first being the H1N1 flu outbreak which fizzled out quickly, despite possibly causing 280,000 deaths globally. During the H1N1 outbreak, WHO declared a PHEIC in April 2009 and then a pandemic in June, only to rescind both in August as the outbreak was judged to have transitioned to behave like a seasonal flu.WHO was criticized afterwards for prematurely declaring a PHEIC and overreacting. This then may have impacted the delay in declaring the Ebola outbreak in West Africa as a PHEIC in 2014, long after it became a major crisis. WHO’s former legal counsel has suggested the PHEIC — and other aspects of the IHR framework — may not be effective in stimulating appropriate actions by governments and needs to be reconsidered.When the time is right to evaluate lessons about the response, it might be appropriate to consider the relative effectiveness of the PHEIC and pandemic announcements and their optimal timing in stimulating appropriate action by governments. The effectiveness of lockdowns in reducing the overall death toll also needs investigation. Full Article
pandemic Webinar: Weekly COVID-19 Pandemic Briefing – Vaccines By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 18:40:01 +0000 Members Event Webinar 13 May 2020 - 10:00am to 10:45amAdd to CalendariCalendar Outlook Google Yahoo Chatham House | 10 St James's Square | London | SW1Y 4LE Professor David Heymann CBE, Distinguished Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House; Executive Director, Communicable Diseases Cluster, World Health Organization (1998-03)Professor David Salisbury CB, Associate Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House; Director of Immunization, Department of Health, London (2007-13)Chair: Emma Ross, Senior Consulting Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House As countries grapple with how best to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and the reverberations it is sending through their societies and economies, scientific understanding of how the virus is behaving, and what measures might best combat it, continues to advance. This briefing will focus on the progress towards and prospects for a coronavirus vaccine, exploring the scientific considerations, the production, distribution and allocation challenges as well as the access politics.Join us for the eighth in a weekly series of interactive webinars on the coronavirus with Professor David Heymann and special guest, Professor David Salisbury, helping us to understand the facts and make sense of the latest developments in the global crisis. With 80 candidate vaccines reported to be in development, how will scientists and governments select the 'right' one? What should be the role of global leadership and international coordination in the development and distribution of a new vaccine? And can equitable access be ensured across the globe?Professor Heymann is a world-leading authority on infectious disease outbreaks. He led the World Health Organization’s response to SARS and has been advising the organization on its response to the coronavirus.Professor Salisbury was director of immunization at the UK Department of Health from 2007 to 2013. He was responsible for the national immunization programme and led the introduction of many new vaccines. He previously chaired the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization and served as co-chair of the Pandemic Influenza group of the G7 Global Health Security Initiative.This event will be livestreamed. Full Article
pandemic Webinar: Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic for African Economies and Development By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Wed, 15 Apr 2020 10:10:01 +0000 Research Event 21 April 2020 - 4:30pm to 5:30pm Event participants Dr Hafez Ghanem, Vice President for Africa, World BankChair: Elizabeth Donnelly, Deputy Director, Africa Programme, Chatham House Dr Hafez Ghanem discusses the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for African economies and their development and poverty reduction efforts, and assesses the priorities and obstacles for establishing a comprehensive response to the crisis. While the acute strain placed on health systems by the COVID-19 pandemic is already in evidence, the long-term economic fallout from the crisis is yet to fully manifest. For Africa it is the economic impact that may leave the most enduring legacy: from the direct expense of measures to treat, detect and reduce the spread of the virus; to the indirect costs of domestic lockdown measures, global supply chain disruptions and plummeting commodity prices. As decision-makers globally start to plan for the scale of this economic shock, strategizing in and on Africa to meet the challenge will require unprecedented planning and commitment - and will need to be matched by support from international partners to enable long-term recovery. Department/project Africa Programme, Inclusive Economic Growth, Governance and Technology Hanna Desta Programme Assistant, Africa Programme Email Full Article