Statistics about COVID-19 on the African continent are in short supply. In many countries this has hampered efforts to bring the pandemic under control. Understanding the scale of what’s unfolded has been helped with the release of a study into over 3 000 critical care Covid-19 patients from 64 hospitals in 10 African countries. As Bruce M Biccard explains, it’s not a pretty picture. The outcomes for critically ill patients are poorer than any other region in the world. And only one out of two patients referred for critical care treatment was admitted to a high or intensive care unit. The clear warning is that, in the absence of mass vaccinations, the potential for catastrophic loss of life on the continent remains real.

In a recent interview, Barry Jenkins, the director of “The Underground Railroad,” explained how his work on the 10-episode series changed him. He no longer wanted to talk about himself as a descendant of enslaved Africans. Instead, he would focus on what they did and who they were: “blacksmiths and midwives and herbalists and spiritualists.” To William Nash, Professor of American Studies at Middlebury College, Jenkins’ comments wade into an issue that has vexed academics and activists for decades: how to talk about the history of Black Americans without erasing their ancestors’ individuality, and without making slavery and oppression the quality that defines them.

Caroline Southey

Founding Editor

Doctors and nurses adjust the oxygen mask of a COVID-19 patient inside the Intensive Care Unit of Heliopolis hospital, Egypt. Photo by Fadel Dawood/picture alliance via Getty Images

COVID-19: why critically ill patients in Africa are taking a bigger hit

Bruce M Biccard, University of Cape Town

Outcomes for critically ill Covid-19 patients in Africa are poorer than any other region in the world.

Making the series changed Barry Jenkins’ views on how his ancestors should be described and depicted. Atsushi Nishijima/Amazon Studios

‘The Underground Railroad’ attempts to upend viewers’ notions of what it meant to be enslaved

William Nash, Middlebury

Director Barry Jenkins' delicate dance with beauty and suffering seeks to create a fuller picture of the world Black Americans – then and now – inhabit.

Energy + Environment

The 2021 World Food Prize recognizes that fish are key for reducing hunger and malnutrition

Ben Belton, Michigan State University

Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, is the winner of the 2021 World Food Prize for her work identifying small fish as valuable nutrition sources for developing countries.

Should Japan cancel the Tokyo Olympics? It may not be able to

Paul O'Shea, Lund University

The majority of Japanese people are opposed to the games going ahead, but there's more to the decision to hold the Olympics than public opinion.

Politics + Society

Israel and the Palestinians celebrate a ceasefire — but will anything change?

Anthony Billingsley, UNSW

There seems to be no interest in reviving a peace process that has been effectively moribund since the Clinton administration in the late 1990s.

BBC Diana ‘cover up’ – why Lord Dyson’s report is a body blow for broadcaster

Tim Luckhurst, Durham University

Critics of the UK's public broadcaster will be sharpening their knives over the latest scandal.