Lockdown effects and influenza pandemic: USA 1918/19 Robert J. Barro: Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions and Mortality in U.S. Cities During the Great Influenza Pandemic,1918-1919, in: NBER Working Paper Series, Working Paper 27049, April 2020.
Yearly archives: 2020
76 posts
Final report of the “Heinsberg Study” Hendrik Streeck and others: Infection fatality rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a German community with a super-spreading event, 4 May 2020
Ways to democratize the global health system Karl Heinz Roth, Jochi Weil-Goldstein: Weltgesundheitsorganisation als Neuschöpfung, in: MMS Bulletin, ed. medico international switzerland, No. 110 (November 2008).
Thomas Gebauer in conversation with Velten Schäfer, in: neues deutschland, 9 May 2020 In this interview, Thomas Gebauer, spokesman for medico international, talks about some of the serious shortcomings in the public health system that the Covid 19 pandemic has exposed. The WHO is in a structural crisis. Initiatives to bundle essential activities – such as the development of vaccines and medicines – are increasingly being transferred to major international foundations. In conspiracy theories this development is reflected in extreme distortion. The real problem is the worldwide commercialization of the health care system.
Statement of German professional associations for pediatrics on the closures of schools and day-care centres Peter Walger et al.: Kinder und Jugendliche in der Covid-19-Pandemie: Schulen und Kitas sollen wieder geöffnet werden, May 19, 2020. There is increasing evidence worldwide that children and adolescents rarely contract the SARS-CoV-2 virus infection and only transmit the pathogen to other people to a small extent. As a result, the inclusion of schools and day-care centres in the lockdown seems inappropriate, especially since these restrictions have considerable disadvantages for those affected. For this reason, the authors of the professional associations call for the immediate […]
Shankar Vedantam: An Unfinished Lesson: What the 1918 Flu Tells Us about Human Nature. Radio feature, March 23, 2020.
Deficit spending as in war financing? Harold James: COVID-19, debt monetization, and lessons from war financing, Webinar at the Bendheim Center for Finance, Princeton University, April 24, 2020. To combat the economic consequences of COVID-19 pandemic, the governments of the USA, the European Union and other countries in the transatlantic region have mobilised trillions of dollars. Massive subsidies, grants and loans as well as massive economic stimulus packages are intended to halt or at least cushion the crash of the global economy. The resources mobilized by governments and central banks to combat the global crisis of 2008/2009 are already far […]
Maura Chhun:1918 flu pandemic killed 12 million Indians, and British overlords’ indifference strengthened the anti-colonial movement, Updated April 23, 2020.
Chris Colvin, Eoin McLaughlin: Coronavirus and Spanish flu: economic lessons to learn from the last truly global pandemic, 11.3.2020
Guido Alfani: Pandemics and asymmetric shocks: lessons from the history of plagues, 9 April 2020
Mathias Schrappe, Hedwig Françoise-Kettner, Franz Knieps, Holger Pfaff, Klaus Püschel, Gerd Gläske: Die Pandemie durch SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19: Datenbasis verbessern – Prävention gezielt weiterentwickeln – Bürgerrechte wahren. Thesenpapier 2.0, 3.5.2020.
by six German health scientists. Prof. Dr. med. Matthias Schrappe, Hedwig François-Kettner, Dr. med. Matthias Gruhl, Franz Knieps, Prof. Dr. phil. Holger Pfaff, Prof. Dr. rer.nat. Gerd Glaeske: Thesenpapier zur Pandemie durch SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19. Datenbasis verbessern. Prävention gezielt weiterentwickeln. Bürgerrechte wahren, 4 April 2020 (German).
Sergio Bologna: Bericht aus dem italienischen Bundesland Lombardei, wo Covid 19 die Bevölkerung getroffen hat wie an keinem anderen Ort der Welt (bis heute, den 28.04.2020). Report from the Italian state of Lombardy, where Covid 19 hit the population like no other place in the world (until today, 28 April 2020). From the beginning oft the coronavirus crisis fiable Information became essential. Here some suggestions and recommendations concerning the situation in Italy (web pages, magazines, videos, audio interviews and so on).
Sources and literature Economic History Society: The Long View on Epidemics, Disease, and Public Health. An Economic History Resources List, April 2020
Vinay Prasad / Jeffrey S. Flier: Scientists who express different views on Covid-19 should be heard, not demonized, in: STAT, 27.4.2020 Critical epidemiologists and virologists, who in recent weeks have expressed doubts about the blanket worst-case scenarios of their colleagues, have often been regarded as ‘irresponsible’ and excluded from the scientific discussion. The authors demonstrate this finding using the example of epidemiologist John Ioannidis. They call on the scientific community to discuss the worldwide published research results in an open-ended manner.
The Long View on Epidemics, Disease and Public Health: Research from Economic History. Update 16 April 2020
World Health Organisation (WHO): Report of the WHO-China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), 16-24 February 2020.
The website Labourstart with daily updated news from the world of trade unions.
Appeal by the aid organisation Seebrücke for the dissolution of the refugee camps (German and English).
Deutsches Netzwerk Evidenzbasierte Medizin: Covid-19: Wo ist die Evidenz?. Statement of 20 March 2020 of the German Network for Evidence-based Medicine: Covid-19: Where is the evidence? (English) and Updated Version of 15 April 2020 (German). In this paper, the interdisciplinary working group refers to the lack of data on all essential aspects of the pandemic and to the catastrophic social consequences of the countermeasures initiated without a data basis.