Wednesday, April 24

Tag: during

For Investing More In Health Care During The Pandemic – Credit Ratings Are Punishing Poorer Countries
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BUSINESS, HEALTH & WELLNESS

For Investing More In Health Care During The Pandemic – Credit Ratings Are Punishing Poorer Countries

Ramya Vijaya, Stockton University Economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic depends on sustained investment in health care and social services. But while rich countries like the U.S. can borrow and spend relatively easily, low-income nations face a major obstacle: their credit ratings. A credit rating, like a credit score, is an assessment of the ability of a borrower – whether it’s a company or a government – to repay its debts. Lower credit ratings drive up the cost of borrowing. This threat prompted some poorer countries to avoid tapping investors for vital financing during the pandemic, while other governments that made plans to spend more on public services were hit with credit ratings downgrades from private companies. My forthcoming research shows that when credit ratings fal...
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During A Pandemic People With Disabilities Are At Greater Risk Of Going Hungry
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IN OTHER NEWS

During A Pandemic People With Disabilities Are At Greater Risk Of Going Hungry

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed uncomfortable and distressing truths about American society: namely, the struggle many Americans face just getting by. Yet, while the pervasive food insecurity that has always existed in the U.S. became more visible, how the problem disproportionately affects people with disabilities has received less attention. As an ethnographer of food, poverty and welfare, I study how people respond to economic scarcity through caregiving networks. Although caregiving networks like neighborhood mutual aid groups and pop-up food banks quickly emerged to support vulnerable groups during the pandemic, people with disabilities have continued to face additional challenges. High risk of food insecurity An estimated 25% of U.S. adults have some form of physical or intell...
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Here Are 4 Tips To Help You Figure Out Tricky Stats – Numbers Can Trip You Up During The Pandemic
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COVID-19

Here Are 4 Tips To Help You Figure Out Tricky Stats – Numbers Can Trip You Up During The Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic thrust many news consumers into a world of statistics and deep uncertainty. An endless swirl of numbers – case counts, infection rates, vaccine efficacy – can leave you feeling stressed, anxious and powerless if you’re not confident you know what they really mean. But when used effectively, statistics can help you know more, trust more and avoid surprise and regret when the unexpected occurs. People also tend to want them and find them useful when weighing uncertain risks and making decisions. I’m a decision psychologist. I study how people understand and use numbers as they’re figuring out risks and making choices. I then try to improve how numbers are communicated to help people make better decisions. Here are four ways that stats in the news can confuse you – and...
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During The Pandemic Domestic Violence Calls For Help Increased But Answers Haven’t Gotten Any Easier
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SOCIETY

During The Pandemic Domestic Violence Calls For Help Increased But Answers Haven’t Gotten Any Easier

Domestic violence rose globally in 2020 – so much so that doctors have called it “a pandemic within a pandemic.” The National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice, a team of national experts tasked with assessing the impact of COVID-19 on the justice system, recently estimated that in the United States, domestic violence incidents increased 8.1% on average following stay-at-home orders. Worldwide, the United Nations estimates there was a 20% increase in domestic violence incidents across its 193 member states during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns. We are criminologists with expertise in domestic violence and policing, respectively. To understand whether and how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted calls for help for domestic violence in the U.S., we examined short- and long-term trends in ...
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On Very Shaky Ethical Ground – In Texas, Price Gouging During Disasters Is Illegal
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BUSINESS

On Very Shaky Ethical Ground – In Texas, Price Gouging During Disasters Is Illegal

In Houston, as millions suffered power and water outages, food shortages and subfreezing temperatures, another problem confronted families: price hikes. Steep increases in the price of food, gas and fuel have been reported across Texas. And as millions of Texans lost power, exorbitant prices were being asked for hotel rooms with power, with some climbing to US$1,000 a night. As a scholar who has researched disaster ethics, I know this is not uncommon in such circumstances. It follows a pattern: Disaster creates a scarcity of basic necessities; retailers and providers respond by sharply raising the price tags on sought-after commodities. Then comes public outrage and claims of price gouging – a practice deemed illegal in 36 U.S. states, including Texas, in times of disaster. Contrarian ...
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Making Black Lives Matter During COVID
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COVID-19

Making Black Lives Matter During COVID

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unveil the deficiencies in all of our systems, racial disparities—particularly the disproportionate number of Black people dying—top the list. The staggering statistics keep pouring in, dispelling an earlier rumor among some in Black communities that Black people are somehow immune to contracting the disease. But more importantly, the high numbers highlight the health care inequities in the United States. “Inequities have existed for generations, and it’s something we cannot ignore,” Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist says. “The disparity and mortality rate with COVID-19 are more urgent because people [can] die within a month of contracting the virus.” In Michigan, Gilchrist’s home state, the African American population is 14%. Yet, as of mid-April, ...
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During The US Capitol Riot, A Scholar Of American Anti-Semitism Explains The Hate Symbols Present
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Journalism

During The US Capitol Riot, A Scholar Of American Anti-Semitism Explains The Hate Symbols Present

One of the many horrifying images from the Jan. 6 rampage on the U.S. Capitol shows a long-haired, long-bearded man wearing a black “Camp Auschwitz” T-shirt emblazoned with a skull and crossbones, and under it the phrase “work brings freedom” – an English translation of the Auschwitz concentration camp motto: “Arbeit macht frei.” Another image, more subtle but no less incendiary, is of a different man whose T-shirt was emblazoned with the inscription “6MWE” above yellow symbols of Italian Fascism. “6MWE” is an acronym common among the far right standing for “6 Million Wasn’t Enough.” It refers to the Jews exterminated during the Nazi Holocaust and hints at the desire of the wearer to increase that number still further. These and related images, captured on television and retweeted on soc...
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During An Epidemic In 1714 The Death Of Cicely, Young, Black And Enslaved Has Lessons That Resonate In Today’s Pandemic
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COVID-19

During An Epidemic In 1714 The Death Of Cicely, Young, Black And Enslaved Has Lessons That Resonate In Today’s Pandemic

What I believe to be the oldest surviving gravestone for a Black person in the Americas memorializes an enslaved teenager named Cicely. Over 1.4 million people have died from COVID-19 so far this year. How history memorializes them will reflect those we most value. CC BY-ND Cicely’s body is interred across from Harvard’s Johnston Gate in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She died in 1714 during a measles epidemic brought to the college by a student after the summer recess of 1713. Another tombstone in the same burial ground remembers Jane, an enslaved woman who died in 1741 during an outbreak of diphtheria, or “throat distemper.” A grave marker for an enslaved woman named Jane uses the archaic ‘1740/1’ Julian calendar notation to denote her death in early 1741. Nicole Maskiell, CC BY-ND When dise...
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An Epidemiologist Explains Her Personal Plans To Host A Safe Holiday Meal During Coronavirus
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IN OTHER NEWS

An Epidemiologist Explains Her Personal Plans To Host A Safe Holiday Meal During Coronavirus

Like many people in this unusual year, I am adjusting my family’s holiday plans so that we can all be safe during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. I am an epidemiologist and mother of four with a large extended family. Given the serious nationwide resurgence of COVID-19 infections, gatherings of family and friends over the upcoming holidays have the potential to amplify the spread of the virus. Several recent studies have further confirmed that indoor socializing at home carries a significantly higher risk of viral transmission than outdoor activities. Health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have warned that much of transmission this fall is happening across all age groups at small indoor gatherings. For the p...
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Support From Schools Can Reduce Parents Anxiety During The Pandemic
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COVID-19, EDUCATION

Support From Schools Can Reduce Parents Anxiety During The Pandemic

Our recent survey found that schools can affect the mental health and well-being of not just students but their parents, too. From April through June 2020, we surveyed 152 parents – primarily mothers – in Detroit, Michigan, who were managing the new demands of remote schooling for their children. Not surprisingly, they reported high levels of anxiety (34%) and depression (27%) during this stressful period, but some indicated that support from their child’s school played an important role in reducing their mental health difficulties. Generally speaking, the more school support parents in our survey felt they had received, the less anxiety and depression they reported. However, this finding did not extend to families that were highly affected by COVID-19 due to lost income, food insecurity ...
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