Coronavirus: the latest weekly articles from the global academic network The Conversation
The year has just passed when stories of alarming cases of pneumonia emerged in Wuhan, China, caused by a mysterious new "coronavirus". The Conversation published its first article related to the outbreak on January 13. By that time, the disease had already spread in China and with circumstances several people had tested positive for the disease in Thailand, South Korea, and Japan.
Less than two months later, this virus (officially named SARS-CoV-2) has invaded more than 100 countries, killed more than 3,800 people, and infected more than 111,000.
Several areas in other parts of the world are also under quarantine. The state of the international economy is in chaos. Flights were cancelled, there was even one airline that went out of business. Fear has led to xenophobia and shops have run out of essentials, including toilet paper.
The Conversation's unique global network of academics, which produces journalism quickly and reliably, has played an important role in separating fact and fiction in this uncertain world. Published in 4 languages (English, French, Indonesian and Spanish), our editors have provided sharp and coordinated coverage and have reached millions of readers.
Now, with the world situation still seemingly far from the end of the crisis, we are launching weekly articles focused on coronavirus from all 8 editions of the network. There have been so many articles that have been read and republished (it's free, we don't have a rule that requires someone to pay if they want to republish our articles, because we are here to spread information and democratize knowledge for the wider community).
This new weekly article will engage The Conversation's editors around the world focusing on key themes related to the coronavirus and also highlighting some of the best content from our network.
Corona virus story so far
Initially, the World Health Organization (WHO) decided that this outbreak was not a global health emergency (PHEIC). We have experts who explain why.
However, the situation changed so quickly and on January 30 the disease was declared by WHO as a global health emergency. Aubree Gordon, professor of public health at the University of Michigan, gives a clear explanation of what that statement means.
At that time, people were very curious to know everything about this new threat. With access to thousands of experts through our global network, The Conversation has been able to provide evidence-based advice on everything from how to wash hands and, importantly, how to dry hands, to how to protect our children and about whether face masks can provide protection or not.
And on March 11, WHO officially declared the COVID-19 pandemic.
The economy is in a major crisis
We also have quality and authoritative articles on the impact of the development of COVID-19 (the official name for the disease) on the world economy, how this makes science more open (including the risks that come with it), and how vaccine development is carried out.
Our coverage covers the steps Nigeria is taking to deal with the outbreak, how governments in Southeast Asia are dealing with misinformation on health, and what the WHO emergency statement means for Canada.
The authors also seek to place this outbreak in the context of other pandemics. A researcher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine released an interactive map to The Conversation's team that allowed readers to track how disease spreads over time. The map also compares the COVID-19 outbreak with outbreaks of other infectious diseases, such as SARS, swine flu, and Ebola.
Other writers have gone even further by comparing this epidemic with the Black Death (the bubonic plague in Europe in the 14th century that killed 50 million people), comparing its impact both in terms of the economy and in terms of the spread of misinformation.
Indeed, misinformation and conspiracy theories have been rampant since the beginning of the outbreak. Paranoia even haunts beer drinkers: Corona beer sales have suffered a sudden drop.
Global network
The antidote to the spread of this misinformation is to present the news wisely and reliably, written clearly and easily to understand, so that the news can convince the readers rather than create anxiety. The Conversation's network of academic writers works with professional journalists to provide you with all the sharp and up-to-date information.
As the pandemic progresses, we will continue to bring you journalism from experts who write according to their field of knowledge. We are currently working on a variety of articles, including one on how the coronavirus should make us hopeful in our ability to deal with the climate crisis.
Other examples include articles on how to stop the anxiety caused by a pandemic if it grows out of control and how changing seasons might change the course of an outbreak. As a network of non-profit organizations, our only goal is to help you stay informed.
Over the coming weeks, please stay tuned for our coverage, you can sign up for a subscription to The Conversation newsletter in your area, wash your hands regularly, and only follow the helpful advice of the experts. Don't worry too much.
A leading microbiologist at the University of Navarra in Spain says we are at our best to deal with the pandemic and there are already millions of people reading his writings in Spanish, French, English and Indonesian.
This epidemic will no doubt continue. During that time, we will provide you with trustworthy content from our network of experts. And every week, we will publish an article that summarizes the ongoing topic of the corona virus.