In The News

Governments Clamp Down: New York Times

March 9, 2020
The world has more than 110,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and nations impose more restrictions to contain the spread, which also slows spending and hurts businesses. “Italy began one of the largest-ever attempts to restrict the movement of people in a Western democracy, with a lockdown of the country’s northern region affecting about 16 million people and fueling questions about whether...

China Everywhere: Times of India

Nayan Chanda March 9, 2020
COVID-19 has fueled a slowdown in travel, trade, economic growth and globalization yet globalization is far from dead, suggests Nayan Chanda, founding editor of YaleGlobal Online. “[A]mid all the recent sound and fury against globalisation, the global economy itself has grown ever more enmeshed.” Chanda warns of challenges in delinking and adjusting globalization’s many ties. China’s share of...

Student Builds COVID-19 Tracking Website: GeekWire

Kurt Schlosser March 5, 2020
A new coronavirus for China emerged in early January, and a 17-year-old student in Mercer Island, Washington, worried about misinformation. Before the disease spread from China, Avi Schiffmann set out make a one-stop website that compiles official data. “The site’s simple homepage consists of quick facts that are updated every 10 minutes, including total confirmed cases, total deaths, countries...

Medicine Shortages? South China Morning Post

Simone McCarthy March 4, 2020
China has ordered closures of businesses and schools to prevent the spread of COVID-19. “As the world’s top producer of active pharmaceutical ingredients, … China’s disrupted factory output has the potential to upset global supply chains, and regulators have been watching with concern,” reports Simone McCarthy for South China Morning Post. The US Food and Drug Administration named 20 drugs with...

Globalization Spreads Contagion of All Kinds: FT

Ian Goldin March 3, 2020
The swift spread of COVID-19 followed by market declines alarms citizens and policymakers. “As trade, finance, travel, cyber and other networks grow in scale and interact, they become more complex and unstable,” writes Oxford University professor Ian Goldin for Financial Times. “The super-spreaders of the goods of globalisation, such as major airport hubs, are also super-spreaders of the bads.”...

Appropriate Response to COVID-19: Korea Herald

Robert J. Fouser February 28, 2020
As the coronavirus spreads, some countries respond by closing borders, blocking visas for some travelers and blocked cruise ships from ports. At the community level, some protest arrival of patients for monitoring in secure locations and discriminate against Chinese nationals. Societies must resist fear and panic, balancing public safety and individual rights in fighting the coronavirus, argues...

WHO Waits to Call COVID-19 Pandemic: NewScientist

Debora MacKenzie February 27, 2020
The world prepares for a COVID-19 pandemic, described as inevitable by many health officials. A pandemic requires worldwide spread and deaths, according to the US Centers for Disease control. With confirmed cases reported in 47 nations, the World Health Organization has held off on declaring a pandemic. “Countries have pandemic plans that are launched when one is declared, but these plans may not...