The Conversation

Who cares for those most vulnerable to COVID-19? 4 questions about home care aides answered

Written by Christian Weller, Professor of Public Policy and Public Affairs, University of Massachusetts Boston

Most home care aides are single women.Terry Vine/Shutterstock.com

Editor’s note: The elderly and those recovering from surgeries are among the most vulnerable to becoming seriously ill as a result of COVID-19. An army of 3.5 million home care aides are responsible for taking care of them and others who need help, whether in homes or assisted...

Coronavirus fears over farmers markets could hit new growers hard – just when Americans need them most

Written by Tamara J. Benjamin, Assistant Program Leader, Diversified Farming and Food Systems, Purdue University

Shoppers in Brooklyn continue to buy produce at a farmers market.Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The familiar sight of weekend shoppers brushing shoulders at farmers markets across the U.S. is under threat from the coronavirus and fears of its spread.

In Seattle, farmers markets have been suspended altogether. In New York state – the epicenter of...

Why people need rituals, especially in times of uncertainty

Written by Dimitris Xygalatas, Assistant Professor in Anthropology, University of Connecticut

People wear a protective mask as they attend a Hindu ritual, known as Melasti, in Bali, Indonesia, on March 22.Agoes Rudianto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Responding to the coronavirus pandemic, most American universities have suspended all campus activities. Like millions of people all around the world, the lives of students all over the U.S. has...

In battling the coronavirus, will 'optimistic bias' be our undoing?

Written by Marie Helweg-Larsen, Professor of Psychology, the Glenn E. & Mary Line Todd Chair in the Social Sciences, Dickinson College

Unless danger is flashing before us, we view risks through rose-colored glasses.slavemotion/iStock via Getty Images

As the coronavirus has fanned across the globe, some people have been more complacent about the risk of contracting the virus than others.

On March 21, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was apoplectic after photographs emerged of New Yorkers...

Calling COVID-19 a 'Chinese virus' is wrong and dangerous – the pandemic is global

Written by Mari Webel, Assistant Professor of History, University of Pittsburgh

U.S. officials risk public health by equating COVID-19 with places far from home.AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

The COVID-19 pandemic has spread to almost every country on Earth. And yet, several American officials refer to it as the “Wuhan virus” or even the “Chinese virus.”

U.S.-Chinese antagonism in this vein is not new. But,...

Medical supply chains are fragile in the best of times and COVID-19 will test their strength

Written by Emily Tucker, Ph.D. Candidate in Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan

The pipeline of pharmaceuticals is easily disrupted.Gumpanat/iStock via Getty Images Plus

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought medical supply chains into the spotlight. There has been a national shortage of testing kits, and at least one drug is already unavailable because of the outbreak, though it hasn’t been publicly named.

As operations enginee...

I'm a family doctor fighting against fear and struggling with distancing while trying to keep my patients healthy

Written by Tammy Chang, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, University of Michigan

Virtual medical care can be effective and eliminate unnecessary exposure to the coronavirus.eldar nurkovic/Shutterstock.com

The Conversation is running a series of dispatches from clinicians and researchers operating on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic.

I am sitting at my kitchen table. To my right is my daughter, 9; to my left, my son,...

The deadly polio epidemic and why it matters for coronavirus

Written by Carl Kurlander, Senior Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh

An emergency polio ward in Boston in 1955 equipped with iron lungs. These pressurized respirators acted as breathing muscles for polio victims, often children, who were paralyzed.www.apimages.com

The fear and uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic may feel new to many of us. But it is strangely familiar to those who lived through the...

Deal with ransomware the way police deal with hostage situations

Written by Scott Shackelford, Associate Professor of Business Law and Ethics; Director, Ostrom Workshop Program on Cybersecurity and Internet Governance; Cybersecurity Program Chair, IU-Bloomington, Indiana University

it's never good to find your data locked up.PR Image Factory/Shutterstock.com

When faced with a ransomware attack, a person or company or government agency finds its digital data encrypted by an unknown person, and then gets a demand for a ransom.

As that type of digital hijacking has become more common in recent years, there have been two major way...

There’s a name for Trump playing down the threat and failing to take action against the virus: Institutional betrayal

Written by Anne P. DePrince, Professor of Psychology, University of Denver

A healthcare worker interviews people at a drive-through coronavirus screening in Yorba Linda, CA.MediaNews Group / Orange County Register / Jeff Gritchen via Getty Images

U.S. intel agencies issued dire, classified warnings to President Trump in January and February about the dangers posed by the coronavirus, according to revelations reported in...