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Editor's note
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The World Health Organization is urging governments everywhere to “test, test, test” as the coronavirus sweeps through every continent. You can’t fight an enemy blindfolded, we are told. It’s imperative to learn from the successes of South Korea and China and put every last citizen under the microscope.
The UK, the US and countless other countries are pulling out the stops to follow this advice, with varying success. Every day they field ferocious questions from journalists about why they wasted valuable weeks of testing time, why they’re so far behind the curve, why they can’t keep up with the unstoppable Germans. But Cam Donaldson, a leading health economist, argues that this is a global wild goose chase. Test all your healthcare workers
by all means, he says, but also face up to some inconvenient but rational arguments as to why mass testing is not the way to go.
We also bring you news of some cutting-edge research in the global race to defeat the virus from Dundee in Scotland – drawing on the good offices of a few sheep and an army of bacteria.
And lest we forget the beautiful moment when the entire British public stepped outside to applaud frontline NHS workers the other day, a neuropsychologist explains why it felt so uplifting.
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Steven Vass
Scotland Editor
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Top stories
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Swab testing.
Ben Birchall/PA
Cam Donaldson, Glasgow Caledonian University
The hard truth is that this ship has probably sailed.
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Fotogrin/Shutterstock
Paul Davies, University of Dundee
The science of making reagents, the chemicals needed for the COVID-19 finger-prick test.
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People clap from a balcony during a collective scheduled clapping event in honor of workers of the sanitary and health sector in Orense, northwest Spain, 29 March 2020.
EPA/Brais Lorenzo
Catherine Loveday, University of Westminster
Clapping is the auditory equivalent of a group hug, according to neuroscience.
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Health + Medicine
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Richard McKay, University of Cambridge
Why we should wash our hands of this unhealthy phrase.
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Lionel Cavicchioli, The Conversation
Since the pandemic began, the new coronavirus has infected more than 780,000 people and killed at least 37,000. The experts at The Conversation offer its readers insights from every continent.
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David Hunter, University of Oxford
The Battle for Britain has begun...but it's not going very well.
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Suzanne Zaremba, University of Dundee; Miriam Clegg, University of Reading
Often focus on research concentrates on reducing and suppressing appetite, but it is important to support those who need to increase their appetite to avoid malnutrition.
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Rachael Rigby, Lancaster University
Evidence from a new study could help scientists develop drugs to neutralise the 'allergic antibodies' that cause anaphylaxis.
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Politics + Society
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Stephen Cushion, Cardiff University; Richard Sambrook, Cardiff University
The BBC's audiences have grown as it provides high quality news an information about the pandemic. But is it doing enough to hold the government to account?
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Amelia Hadfield, University of Surrey
EU leaders can't agree on how to deploy financial aid to economies in crisis.
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Umut Korkut, Glasgow Caledonian University
The government now has the power to do whatever it deems necessary to manage the crisis, effectively for an unlimited period of time.
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Cihan Dizdaroğlu, Coventry University
A tendency to infantilise or demonise youth has led to a failure to acknowledge young people's potential.
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Environment + Energy
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Felice S. Wyndham, University of Oxford
When colonisers invaded the Americas, they brought with them waves of new diseases. This legacy continues to impact Indigenous communities.
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Lesley Elizabeth Craig, University of Stirling
People can still learn a great deal about these mammals while keeping a safe distance.
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Business + Economy
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Juvaria Jafri, City, University of London
Pakistan is using technology to distribute emergency support as part of its coronavirus stimulus. But its criteria for eligibility must be more nuanced.
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Enrico Bonadio, City, University of London; Andrea Baldini, Nanjing University
Drug companies normally use patents to protect new treatments.
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Science + Technology
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Sam Peter Kirk, Leeds Beckett University
With the coronavirus forcing people to stay at home, new ways are needed to keep fit.
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Joanna Buckley, University of Sheffield
Three foods and some cool stuff you should know about them.
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Arts + Culture
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Louis Netter, University of Portsmouth
In times of crisis, the role of art becomes more central to our lives, like it or not.
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Jane Ogden, University of Surrey
On your daily walk take in real people. It might make you kinder to your own body during the Coronavirus lockdown
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