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As Australia’s borders open and some public health measures ease, we’ve been warned to expect more COVID cases.
This means we’ll also expect to see a rise in “long COVID”, where some people have ongoing, severe fatigue plus a wide range of other symptoms. These include pain, as well as breathing, neurological, sleep and mental health problems. These symptoms can last for weeks and months, even when the initial illness was mild.
Recent modelling looked at how many long-COVID cases Australia can expect within two years of re-opening. With limited relaxation of public health measures, the modelling shows we can expect tens of thousands of cases of long COVID. If public health measures are relaxed further, we can expect many more.
It’s early days for the Omicron variant. It’s too soon to know its impact on long COVID. We also don’t know if high levels of vaccination might affect long-COVID rates. The evidence for that is mixed. But what is certain is Australia needs to start planning how to manage the health and economic impacts of long COVID after re-opening, write Deakin University’s Martin Hensher and Mary Rose Angeles. That’s on top of the long COVID cases from the Delta wave earlier
this year.
And later today, the government will release its mid-year budget update. Keep an eye on our coverage this afternoon, led by Michelle Grattan, Richard Holden and John Hawkins.
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Anna Evangeli
Deputy Editor: Health+Medicine
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Martin Hensher, Deakin University; Mary Rose Angeles, Deakin University
More cases of long COVID can put strain on our health system. So we need to think about where and how we offer care.
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Colin Zhang, Macquarie University; Ning Wang, University of Wollongong
If you are aged 70 with a million dollar home you could get up to $308,000 per year from a little-known scheme with risks.
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Claire Smith, Flinders University; Jasmine Willika, Flinders University
The current string of COVID outbreaks in remote Aboriginal communities are due to get worse if the NT government opens its borders on December 20, as planned.
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Adam Smith, James Cook University
The ‘SharkSmart’ approach, adopted by the Queensland government, aims to educate people to take responsibility for reducing shark bite risk by changing their own behaviour. But can humans change?
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Daryl Sparkes, University of Southern Queensland
They’re creepy, kooky and all together still a great film 30 years on.
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Kevin Thiele, The University of Western Australia
One of Australia’s largest groups of flower species is named after a wealthy British slave-trader. And Nazi memorabilia collectors have almost sent “Hitler’s beetle” extinct. It’s time for a change.
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Politics + Society
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Mike Grimshaw, University of Canterbury
Bad laws, political tribalism and cancel culture – philosopher Arthur Prior was describing similar things in the 1950s, and his challenge is just as relevant today.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Thursday’s budget update will forecast one million jobs will be created over the next four years and unemployment will fall to 4.25% by June 2023.
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Kelly Hine, University of the Sunshine Coast; Robert Fleet, Australian National University
Police forces around the world, including in Australia, are using facial recognition apps to identify persons of interest on the spot. The public, while wary, are generally supportive.
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Health + Medicine
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Claire Smith, Flinders University; Jasmine Willika, Flinders University
The current string of COVID outbreaks in remote Aboriginal communities are due to get worse if the NT government opens its borders on December 20, as planned.
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Pat McGorry, The University of Melbourne; Andrew Thompson, The University of Melbourne; Ellie Brown, The University of Melbourne; Eóin Killackey, The University of Melbourne
Early intervention programs for young people with psychosis might cost more initially, and require more intensive support for longer periods, but they’re worth the investment.
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Anthony Jorm, The University of Melbourne; Stephen Allison, Flinders University
It was hoped intensive early intervention programs might ‘bend the curve’ and change the lifetime trajectory of illnesses such as schizophrenia. But that doesn’t appear to be the case.
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Science + Technology
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Naomi Smith, Federation University Australia; Simon Copland, Australian National University
Fast-moving viral memes create space for low-stakes, humorous and wholesome engagement on often toxic social media platforms
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Environment + Energy
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Margaret Young, The University of Melbourne; Catherine E. Gascoigne, University of Sydney
A review of Australia’s illegal logging laws tests the Morrison government’s commitment to halting global forest loss.
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Education
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Merlin Crossley, UNSW
Teaching News You Can Use is a new online resource to guide and inspire university teachers and, in doing so, help build an academic community that recognises good teaching practice.
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Hannah Soong, University of South Australia
Parents who take the hard refugee journey indirectly influence their kids to work towards the life that was denied to them.
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Arts + Culture
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Joanna Mendelssohn, The University of Melbourne
Jeffrey Smart is admired for his carefully structured paintings of Tuscany and Rome. This National Gallery of Australia’s centenary celebration of his birth takes the viewer back to Adelaide.
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Featured jobs
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— Canberra ACT, Australia
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— Canberra ACT, Australia
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— Auckland CBD, Auckland, New Zealand
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Featured Events & Courses
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— Victoria, Australia — The Conversation Weekly Podcast
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— Australian Capital Territory, Australia — Politics with Michelle Grattan
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— Virtual event, Caulfield East, Victoria, 3145, Australia — Monash University
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