Response to Pandemic - Links to article

      "Why wear a mask if you talk through your Rs"


      Resources

      • The Conversation Jan22: I’ve tested positive to COVID. What should I do now?
      • Tip for Australians with iPhones: Use the Medicare app to add your vaccine certificate to the Wallet for easy access.
      • NSW Health: 2021 media releases from NSW Health (with venue alerts) +  Latest COVID-19 news and updates + COVID-19 clinics
      • Queensland Health: COVID-19 hotspots
      • Tidbits:  iOS 13.7 Integrates Apple’s COVID-19 Exposure Notifications - good explanation of how to activate the function, including being notified when it becomes available in your region
      • New Scientist Oct20: Where did coronavirus come from? And [many] other covid-19 questions answered

      News (latest at top)

      • 6 Jun 23 Japan Today: Japan enacts laws on new disease control body to fight next pandemic
      • 11 Aug 22 The Guardian: Australia retires $21m CovidSafe contact-tracing app that found just two unique cases.
      • 21 Feb 22 The Conversation: The COVIDSafe app was designed to help contact tracers. We crunched the numbers to see what really happened [In our study, COVIDSafe did not make a meaningful contribution to the COVID response in NSW during 2020. Instead, the app created a high workload for no clear benefit. This stands against the A$7.7 million it has cost to develop and run COVIDSafe until the end of April 2021, with an estimated $60,000-$75,000 per month in maintenance since.] + The COVIDSafe app is dead. What can we learn from this 'failure'?
      • 26 Jan 22 SMH: RPA department head lashes ‘politically-driven’ management of crisis.
      • 16 Jan 22 The Conversation: Government management of Omicron blighted by false assumptions, bad planning.
      • 9 Jan 22 The Conversation: As COVID rips through Australia, is Scott Morrison’s media strategy starting to fail as well? + It’s still not too late to fix the rapid antigen testing debacle. Why the national cabinet decision is wrong and must be reversed + Morrison’s political judgement goes missing on rapid antigen test debacle.
      • 6 Jan 22 ABC: COVID-19 testing under pressure across Australia, as rapid antigen tests remain hard to find amid long delays for PCRs.
      • 29 Dec 21 The Guardian: Small steps or an irresponsible lack of action: Australian experts react to national cabinet’s announcement + Australians are at risk as too many of our leaders abdicate responsibility for Covid to pander to their political base.
      • 17 Dec 21 The Conversation: We calculated the impact of ‘long COVID’ as Australia opens up. Even without Omicron, we’re worried.
      • 17 Dec 21 ABC: COVIDSafe's dismal track record.
      • 17 Dec 21 Japan Today: U.S. COVID-19 death toll passes 800,000.
      • 11 Oct 21 The Guardian: ‘Tyranny’: US rightwingers portray nightmare vision of Australia’s Covid response.
      • 1 Oct 21 ABC: The COVIDSafe app has cost $9m to date, but it hasn't uncovered any close contacts during the current outbreaks: "The federal government has refused to move to a digital contact tracing system jointly developed by Apple and Google, which has been adopted by more than 50 jurisdictions globally..."
      • 25 Sep 21 The Conversation: New preliminary evidence suggests coronavirus jumped from animals to humans multiple times.
      • 15 Sep 21 Cosmos editor: A letter to my vaccine-hesitant friends.
      • 15 Sep 21 The Guardian: ‘Government has a lot to answer for’: 30% of Indigenous NSW community struck down by Covid + Scott Morrison insists ‘every effort’ was made to get vaccines, despite Greg Hunt missing Pfizer meeting.
      • 27 Aug 21 ABC: Federal government warned about gaps in biosecurity controls weeks before Ruby Princess debacle
      • 7 Aug 21 The Guardian: Politics rides roughshod over substance as Scott Morrison tries to spin his way out of Covid corner.
      • 7 Aug 21 The Conversation: Australia’s vaccination plan is 6 months too late and a masterclass in jargon + We will need an inquiry to learn from rollout mistakes?
      • 31 Jul 21 The Canberra Times ($):  Govt delays reports on COVIDSafe effectiveness 15 months after app release (The Saturday Paper has this summary: "more evidence of extravagant ineptitude in the setting up of the COVIDSafe app, where $10 million was paid to private contractors. It is still costing $60,000 a month to keep running. Despite heavy redactions, the report found the app identified just 17 close contacts since its launch in 2020, in situations where the contact was not identified by manual tracers. That’s $1.5 million for every contact it uncovered..." (see the concerns a year ago)
      • 31 Jul 21 SMH ($): How did Australia’s vaccine rollout turn into a ‘train wreck’?
      • 31 Jul 21 ABC: As the COVID crisis deepens, effective advocacy and leadership are missing – and the public is paying the price.
      • 31 Jul 21 The Saturday Paper ($): The political forces inside the anti-lockdown movement.- "... military man handpicked by Scott Morrison to run the vaccination program launched a savage broadside against New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian."
      • 29 Jul 21 The Conversation: Public protest or selfish ratbaggery? Why free speech doesn’t give you the right to endanger other people’s health
      • 24 Jul 21 The Conversation: Is the COVID vaccine rollout the greatest public policy failure in recent Australian history?
      • 10 Jui 21 SMH: Deal or no deal? What really happened in last July’s Pfizer meeting.
      • 10 Jul 21 The Guardian: ‘Stuffed’: how Australia’s ‘unconscionable’ gamble on Covid vaccines backfired.
      • 10 Jul 21 The Conversation: Should I have my AstraZeneca booster shot at 8 weeks rather than 12? Here’s the evidence so you can decide [it depends on your imminent risk of exposure to the Delta variant and, possibly, whether you will be able to have a Pfizer jab (i.e. a 3rd jab) in a few months to counter the lower efficacy of an early second jab of AZ]
      • 10 Jun 21 The Saturday Paper ($): The true story of Australia’s vaccine failure.
      • 29 Jun 21 CNN (USA!): Sydney in lockdown, borders shut and hardly anyone vaccinated. How long can Australia go on like this?
      • 20 Jun 21 The Conversation: Concerned about the latest AstraZeneca news? These 3 graphics help you make sense of the risk + Which COVID vaccine is best? Here’s why that’s really hard to answer.
      • 3 Jun 21 The Conversation: [Australian] Hotel quarantine causes 1 outbreak for every 204 infected travellers. It’s far from ‘fit for purpose’
      • 1 Feb21 Macrumours: Apple Expands Exposure Notification API With 'Express' Option That Doesn't Require an App. [from Sep 20] "...we [Apple & Google!] are making it easier and faster for them to use the Exposure Notifications System without the need for them to build and maintain an app. "
      • 28 Jan 21 BBC: Covid hotel quarantine: 'It's the luck of the draw'
      • 28 Jan 21 ABC: New Zealand tops Lowy Institute list as country with best response to coronavirus, Australia sits eighth.
      • 14 Jan 21 ITNews: [Aust] Govt pours millions into Covid vaccine tracking systems.
      • 4 Jan 21 SBS: Anthony Fauci rejects Donald Trump's claims that US coronavirus deaths are 'far exaggerated'.
      • 29 Dec 20 The Conversation: 3 fallacies that blighted this year’s COVID commentary — have you fallen foul of any of them?
      • 29 Dec 20 MacRumours: Los Angeles Residents Able to Add COVID Vaccination Proof to Apple Wallet.
      • 29 Dec 20 CNN [opinion]: The one unforgivable thing about the Covid-19 response.
      • 22 Dec 20 ABC: NSW Health updates list of sites visited by coronavirus cases to include Orange, Gundagai.
      • 22 Dec 20 The Guardian: Stephen Colbert: White House to 'stick with its pandemic plan of not having a plan' [Quote from Spike Milligan: "We haven't got a plan so nothing can go wrong"]
      • 22 Dec 20 Japan Today: Debunked COVID-19 myths survive online, despite facts.
      • 22 CDec 20 The Conversation: Vital Signs: 4 things Australia's COVID response got right + Not just complacency: why people are reluctant to use COVID-19 contact-tracing apps
      • 22 Dec 20 The Guardian: Australian health officials cast doubt on claim new UK Covid strain more infectious.
      • 19 Dec 20 The Conversation: Australia on alert as Sydney’s northern beaches COVID cluster grows, linked to US strain.
      • 17 Dec 20 Japan Today: How New Zealand essentially eliminated the coronavirus.
      • 16 Dec 20 The Conversation: Vaccines alone won’t keep Australia safe in 2021. Here’s what else we need to do.
      • 22 Nov 20 New Scientist: Vaccine misinformation can be fatal – how can we counter it?
      • 24 Oct 20 The Saturday Paper ($): “COVIDSafe is considered widely one of the finest tracing apps on the market.” - Stuart Robert - The minister for Government Services defends the much-maligned COVIDSafe app. Six months since its release, the app has helped officials identify a staggering number of Covid-19 cases – 14 by the latest count.
      • 24 Oct 20 The Guardian: US nears daily Covid cases record amid warning of 500,000 deaths by February.
      • 28 Sep 20 Japan Times: Tiny airborne particles may pose a big coronavirus problem.
      • 25 Sep 20 New Scientist: Scientists dismiss new claims that the coronavirus was made in a lab.
      • 25 Sep 20 Macrumours: 'NHS COVID-19' Contact Tracing App With Exposure Notification API Launches in England and Wales +
      • 25 Sep 20 ABC: US President Donald Trump says UN 'must hold China accountable' for COVID-19 + Japan Today: U.S. virus death toll set to pass 200,000; Trump sees no need for regret +  The Guardian: Trump wrongly claims Covid affects 'virtually' no young people.
      • 13 Sep 20 Macrumours: England and Wales' Contact-Tracing App With Apple and Google API to Launch September 24 - "The first version of the NHS contact-tracing app...used a centralized tracing solution rather than the Apple and Google API, and was later scrapped entirely...Scotland has already launched its contract-tracing app using the Apple and Google API.
      • 13 Sep 20 SMH: Donald Trump admits deliberately minimising coronavirus in bombshell book.
      • 21 Aug 20 ABC: Sweden took a gamble with its herd immunity coronavirus strategy. Was it worth it?
      • 21 Aug 20 New Scientist: Are pets at risk of getting covid-19 and can they spread it to people? - "...He recommends keeping cats indoors, not patting other people’s pets and keeping yourself and your dog away from other people and their dogs when you are out for a walk..."
      • 5 Aug 20 The Guardian: Trump's stream of subconsciousness becomes a torrent in car-crash interview.- "Trump insisted that children with runny noses were now testing positive and that the only reason the US was showing more cases was because of its level of testing..."
      • 3 Aug 20 Macrumours: Apple and Google Update Exposure Notification API, 20 U.S. States Expected to Release Apps Soon + Canada's 'COVID Alert' App Using Apple's Exposure Notification API Now Available.
      • 3 Aug 20 The Guardian: Donald Trump claims Anthony Fauci 'wrong' about cause of Covid-19 surge.
      • 14 Jul 20 The Guardian: ‘Tsunami of untruths’: Trump has made 20,000 false or misleading claims – report ["Trump has expressed nearly 1,200 lies and misleading claims about the pandemic"] + Google detecting 18m malware and phishing messages per day related to Covid-19.
      • 9 Jul 20 Japan Times: The mistakes that pushed an Australian city back into lockdown.
      • 6 Jul 20 Forbes: Yes, Apple/Google COVID-19 Tracking Is Now On Your Phone—Here’s The Problem.
      • 6 Jul 20 The Conversation: By persisting with COVIDSafe, Australia risks missing out on globally trusted contact tracing.
      • 6 Jul 20 The Saturday Paper: The flaws in the COVIDSafe app.
      • 6 Jul 20 Gizmodo: COVIDSafe May Never Use Apple and Google’s API
      • 4 Jun 20 ABC: Coronavirus 'dossier' was a basic timeline of facts handed out by US State Department with no new evidence.
      • 4 Jun 20 9to5 Mac: Here’s how Apple and Google’s Exposure Notification API works while securing privacy.
      • 4 Jun 20  The Guardian: Hydroxychloroquine: Trump's Covid-19 'cure' increases deaths, global study finds.
      • 21 May 20 SBS: Donald Trump dismisses hydroxychloroquine study as an 'enemy statement' against him.
      • 19 May 20 Elemental by Robert Roy Britt: Every Covid-19 Symptom We Know About Right Now, From Head to Toe - The most perplexing things about a disease that has proved vexing, deadly, and ‘unprecedented in many ways’
      • 18 May 20 The Conversation: The costs of the shutdown are overestimated – they’re outweighed by its $1 trillion benefit.
      • 13 May 20 The Conversation: Contact tracing apps are vital tools in the fight against coronavirus. But who decides how they work + SMH: COVID tracing app needs a makeover, not new laws to keep privacy safe.
      • 7 May 20 SMH: Whistleblower complaint blasts Trump administration's COVID-19 response.
      • 5 May 20 The Saturday Paper: Palmer’s snake oil - "The worst part of madness is that it hurts other people. These are the kindest words that can be said about Clive Palmer’s newspaper ads, claiming he has bought 32.9 million doses of hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19".
      • 5 May 20 ABC: US President Donald Trump's prediction of 100,000 deaths from coronavirus falls short of new modelling and leaked document + Donald Trump points to Wuhan laboratory as origin of coronavirus pandemic, questions if China 'let it out'  [...the intelligence community "concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not man-made or genetically modified"] + White House blocks Dr Anthony Fauci from testifying to Congress on coronavirus response
      • 27 Apr 20 ABC: Donald Trump's coronavirus briefings might be over after 'sarcastic' suggestions about drinking disinfectant.
      • 24 Apr 20 ABC: As the coronavirus spread, an experiment showed Facebook was struggling to keep up with fake news.
      • 21 Apr 20 The Guardian: Trump rails against media and gun control in combative briefing + How did Britain get its coronavirus response so wrong?
      • 21 Apr 20 ABC: What happens if the US stops funding the WHO in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic?
      • 16 Apr 20 ABC: Xi Jinping has every reason to support the World Health Organisation, given China's been using it to counter US criticism + World Health Organisation regrets Donald Trump's funding halt over coronavirus pandemic, Pelosi threatens challenge.
      • 15 Apr 20 CNN: Fact check: Trump makes false claims about his coronavirus record and voter fraud, misleads about the WHO.
      • 13 Apr 20 SBS: US tops 20,000 coronavirus deaths, passing Italy to become worst-hit country in world.
      • 11 Apr 20 NYT: He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump’s Failure on the Virus.
      • 11 Apr 20 The Conversation: Headlines promise Australia’s on the ‘cusp’ of defeating coronavirus. We’re not and it’s too soon to relax restrictions.
      • 10 Apr 20 CNN: Trump administration shuttered pandemic monitoring program, then scrambled to extend it.
      • 10 Apr 20 ABC: Australian nurse on US coronavirus frontline in New Orleans urges against complacency + Coronavirus is hurting America's place as a world leader while China appears to rise.
      • 8 Apr 20 Japan Today: Trump threatens to freeze U.S. funding for WHO, saying they 'missed the call' on coronavirus.
      • The Conversation: A small trial finds that hydroxychloroquine is not effective for treating coronavirus + Reuters: Arizona man dies after taking chloroquine for coronavirus  ...Trump tweeted about the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, saying it had “a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine.” + CNN: President Trump is wrong in so many ways about hydroxychloroquine studies. Here are the facts.
      • 3 Apr 20 ABC: Trump's coronavirus ambiguity follows an old strategy. This time Americans might reject the consequences.
      • 27 Mar 20 ABC: Coronavirus could shut down America for months, and that scares Donald Trump for more than economic reasons.
      • Japan Today: U.S. wasted months before preparing for virus pandemic, reports shows.
      • CNN Fact check: Trump falsely claims he 'inherited' the faulty coronavirus test. It was developed this year.
      • Washington Post 2018!: Top White House official in charge of pandemic response exits abruptly (in 2018 the Trump administration disbands the Global Health Security Team set up by President Obama)

      Comment

      • Author of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams, wrote "The History of every major Galactic Civilization tends to pass through three distinct and recognizable phases, those of Survival, Inquiry and Sophistication, otherwise known as the How, Why, and Where phases. For instance, the first phase is characterized by the question 'How can we eat?' the second by the question 'Why do we eat?' and the third by the question 'Where shall we have lunch?" - we have now stepped back from Phase 3! (he also predicted computer viruses in 1982)
      • See also Carl Sagan's Baloney Detection Kit from the book Demon Haunted World and Carl Sagan's warning about the reptile within us

        

      Created by Michael Paine, April 2020. This is a selection of articles about the COVID-19 pandemic with emphasis on the US response.