The Conversation

Preventing COVID-19 from decimating nursing home residents requires spending money and improving infection control

Written by Kathryn Hyer, Professor, Director Florida Policy Exchange Center on Aging, University of South Florida

Chuck Sedlacek, a patient at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington, smiles through a window at his children. Chuck has tested positive for the coronavirus. Getty Images / Karen Ducey

At least 11 people have died from COVID-19 in New Orleans nursing homes in the past week, just after the deaths at a Seattle nursing home weeks ago showed the...

Pregnant in a time of coronavirus – the changing risks and what you need to know

Written by Hector Chapa, Clinical Assistant Professor, Director of Interprofessional Education, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University

A pregnant woman walks past a street mural in Hong Kong on March 23, 2020. With the coronavirus pandemic moving quickly, pregnant women are facing a changing health care system.Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images

“So, being pregnant and delivering in a pandemic … what’s that gonna look like?”

That question, sent to me by a...

How SNAP can help people during hard economic times like these

Written by Tracy Roof, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond

The government helps tens of millions of Americans buy groceries.Jeff Greenberg/Getty

A record number of Americans are seeing their hours cut or losing their jobs due to the initial economic repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic. How will millions of newly jobless families keep putting food on the table?

They might get some help from the Suppleme...

Another housing crisis is coming – and bailouts and eviction freezes won't be enough to prevent many from losing their homes

Written by Roshanak Mehdipanah, Assistant Professor in Public Health, University of Michigan

Unionized hospitality workers wait in line to apply for unemployment benefits.AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

Millions of Americans are suddenly out of work as the financial and economic crisis sparked by the coronavirus pandemic deepens. Without an income, most of these people will have a hard time covering their expenses, including keeping a roof...

Is the loss of your sense of smell and taste an early sign of COVID-19?

Written by Steven D. Munger, Director, Center for Smell and Taste; Co-Director, UF Health Smell Disorders Program; Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida

Can you smell this?Getty Images

Doctors from around the world are reporting cases of COVID-19 patients who have lost their sense of smell, known as anosmia, or taste, known as ageusia. The director of the University of Florida’s Center for Smell and Taste and the co-director of the UF Health Smell Disorders Program answer questions about this...

How responding to the new coronavirus is making the safety net for gig workers less flimsy

Written by Jamila Michener, Assistant Professor of Government, Cornell University

Uber drivers have fewer labor rights than most full-time employees.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

My brother Khary is a 40-year old former mechanic who has earned his living as an Uber driver in New York City for the past four years. He’s one of the millions of full-time American gig workers acutely experiencing the insecurity washing over all...

Can I complain about coronavirus? Why it is OK to vent, sometimes

Written by Arash Javanbakht, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University

Issues of New York Magazine March 16-29, 2020 are on display at a newsstand in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, Thursday, March 19, 2020. AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

The COVID-19 pandemic is different from many crises in that it has affected all of us regardless of politics, economics, religion, age or nationality. This virus is a good...

Stimulus package will remain half-baked unless local governments get more of the dough

Written by Stephanie Leiser, Lecturer in Public Policy, University of Michigan

People still need baked goods even during a lockdown.Frederic Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Lawmakers are pinning their hopes on a US$2 trillion package to prop up the U.S. economy and provide relief to individuals and business ravaged by the coronavirus.

The stimulus is expected to pump $150 billion in aid to state and local governments. But with...

We are all humanitarian negotiators now: 3 steps for planning your ‘please take social distancing seriously’ conversation

Written by Rob Grace, Graduate Research Fellow, Harvard Program on Negotiation; USIP-Minerva Peace Scholar, U.S. Institute of Peace; PhD candidate in political science, Brown University

You need to plan for that serious conversation.Getty/ Jose Luis Pelaez Inc

See if this sounds familiar. You have an older relative whom you believe to be at a serious health risk if they catch the coronavirus. You call, try to persuade them to take social distancing seriously.

But your arguments fail to resonate. You both get angry and hang up,...

Society's dependence on the internet: 5 cyber issues the coronavirus lays bare

Written by Laura DeNardis, Professor of Communication Studies, American University School of Communication

The pandemic is increasing society's reliance on digital connections.MR.Cole_Photographer/Moment via Getty Images

As more and more U.S. schools and businesses shutter their doors, the rapidly evolving coronavirus pandemic is helping to expose society’s dependence – good and bad – on the digital world.

Entire swaths of society,...