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On March 11, it will have been three years since the World Health Organization declared COVID a pandemic.
Gone are the days of lockdowns, and picnics in the park as our sole way of socialising. Gone are the days of queueing up for a COVID test at the drive-through. Gone are the days of daily media conferences announcing COVID cases and deaths.
But as much as we don’t want it to be, and as much as it is off the front pages, COVID is still hitting hard.
There have been almost 681 million reported infections and more than 6.8 million deaths globally. Life expectancy has been reduced, reversing 70 years of largely uninterrupted progress.
In Australia, in 2022 alone we’ve seen more than 20,000 deaths over and above what we’d expect.
Let’s not forget the health care interrupted because we were so busy dealing with COVID: childhood vaccinations, malaria, tuberculosis and HIV. Let’s not forget long COVID – around 65 million cases globally at the last count.
We cannot assume there will be a natural exit to the pandemic, in which the virus becomes a harmless presence in the background.
But we can choose to end the pandemic. We know what to do, write Michael Toole and Brendan Crabb from the Burnet Institute. Here’s what they say needs to happen next.
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Anna Evangeli
Deputy Health Editor
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Michael Toole, Burnet Institute; Brendan Crabb, Burnet Institute
As much as we don’t want it to be, as much as it is off the front pages, COVID is still very much with us. We can end this pandemic, if we choose to.
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Michelle Foster, The University of Melbourne; Katie Robertson, The University of Melbourne
The Australian experience of deterring and punishing asylum seekers who arrive by boat should serve as a warning rather than a blueprint for the UK.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Frydenberg, now in the private sector, hasn’t declared whether he will run again for Kooyong, but he hasn’t lost his political ambition
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Paul Spoonley, Massey University; Paul Morris, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
In this extract from the new book Histories of Hate: The Radical Right in Aotearoa New Zealand, the authors examine the ideological origins of the Christchurch massacres nearly four years ago.
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Catherine de Fontenay, The University of Melbourne
From June, carers will gain stronger rights to request flexible work from employers. But our new Productivity Commission paper found carers still need greater support. Here’s how to have your say.
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Wesley Morgan, Griffith University
Labor must resist the false promise of carbon offsets in its safeguard mechanism. The only thing that matters is actually cutting emissions
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Ettore Camerlenghi, Monash University; Anne Peters, Monash University
Despite their small size, fairy-wrens have surprisingly complex social ties. They’ll risk life and limb to help others – but only if they know them.
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Olivera Simic, Griffith University
More than 30 years ago, Lola was raped during the Bosnian war, but she still awaits justice. Her story illustrates the difficulty of holding war criminals to account – a problem Ukrainians face today.
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Ari Mattes, University of Notre Dame Australia
Of the ten films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, six are really good.
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Health + Medicine
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Anna DeMello, University of Otago
While the cut in tobacco retail outlets may help people planning to quit and prevent youth uptake, those who have smoked for a long time may sacrifice other necessities to continue smoking.
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Science + Technology
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Scarlett Howard, Monash University
The waggle dance is performed by forager bees to convey important information about food sources.
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Environment + Energy
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Ian Cresswell, UNSW Sydney; Andrew John Constable, University of Tasmania; Keith Reid; Nic Bax, CSIRO
Macquarie Island isn’t just a windswept rock halfway to Antarctica. It’s a globally unique home to dozens of bird and marine mammal species, hence the government’s plans to give it greater protection.
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Arts + Culture
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Xanthe Mallett, University of Newcastle
Madeleine McCann, the British girl who vanished as a three-year-old from her family’s holiday apartment in 2007, was back in the news last week as yet another person claimed to be Madeleine.
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The Conversation AU
Melbourne VIC, Australia
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Full Time
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The Conversation AU
Melbourne VIC, Australia
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Full Time
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