In The News

WHO Declares COVID-19 Pandemic: Voice of America

March 11, 2020
COVID-19 is now officially a global pandemic. The World Health Organization had resisted the declaration to avoid panics or notions that prevention is useless. “All countries can still change the course of this pandemic,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He pointed out that “Some countries struggle with a lack of capacity. Some countries are struggling with a lack of...

Boost Immune System to Avoid COVID-19: Guardian

Amy Fleming March 10, 2020
People wash hands and keep a distance from others with COVID-19 symptoms. Improved eating and other habits can strengthen immune systems, including mucus and microbes that protect against germs, suggests researchers. To strengthen gut microbiomes, one professor of immunology suggests eating “a more varied diet with lots of high-fiber foods” and fermented foods like sauerkraut, yogurt and kimchi...

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...

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...

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...

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...

What Happens If a Pandemic Hits? TechCrunch

John Evans February 25, 2020
The World Health Organization monitors the coronavirus as a group of epidemics and suggests it has the potential to become a global pandemic. Declaration of a pandemic would not mean closed borders, a shutdown of air travel or mass quarantines and drastic containment efforts could be counterproductive, argues Jon Evans for TechCrunch. “The focus will switch from containment to mitigation: slowing...