In The News

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...

When China Sneezes: Project Syndicate

Stephen S. Roach February 26, 2020
Cases of the new coronavirus, confirmed in more than 30 countries, strikes when the global economy is already vulnerable and many countries struggle with debt, stagnant growth, reduced industrial output and job creation. COVID-19 has triggered an unexpected disruption to supply and demand. China is at the center of global value chains, explains Stephen S. Roach, an economist based at Yale...

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...

Global Spread of COVID-19: Spiegel

Veronika Hackenbroch and Fritz Schaap February 20, 2020
Thirty countries report confirmed coronavirus cases. Global public health experts suggest that case counts are low and express concern about the spread to less developed countries with dense populations and deep trade connections with China. For example, battling COVID-19 would be a challenge in Africa with shortages of health personnel, testing facilities, protective equipment, and...

COVD-19 Cuts Luxury Retail Sales: New York Times

Elizabeth Paton February 20, 2020
The shopping boulevards in London, Paris, Dubai and other cosmopolitan cities, once crowded with enthusiastic Chinese shoppers, are near empty due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus. The coronavirus has placed more than 50 million people under quarantine in China, and 70 other countries imposed travel and visa restrictions for Chinese tourists. Meanwhile, the global luxury goods industry, which...

Handling Coronavirus and No Zero Risk: USA Today

John Bacon February 18, 2020
The world has more than 70,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19. All but a few hundred are in China. The emergence and rapid spread of the new coronavirus, in the same family as the common cold, has alarmed public health officials. Authorities apply a range of controls: Quarantines separate those exposed until confirmation, isolation separates confirmed cases, lockdowns contain all in affected regions...