COVID-19 Report 2: Questions that don’t yet have answers
This is the second issue of the COVID-19 report published jointly by GroundUp and Spotlight. We point you to the latest quality science on the pandemic.
COVID-19 Report: Understanding the most important science of the past week
Many journalists, including us, are finding the quantity of science reports on COVID-19 overwhelming. We introduce a new occasional column to help make sense of the information overload. The aim of this occasional column, which we’re calling COVID-19 Report, will be to alert reporters in South Africa (and anyone else who is interested) to the best and most important science, and also clear up misconceptions.
COVID-19: The Pros and Cons of high-speed science
Scientific research on COVID-19 has been published at an unprecedented scale and speed, but some fear that this is at the cost of scientific rigour. Adele Baleta explores the pros and cons of high-speed science.
COVID-19: The time for procrastination over patents is over
Unless timely action is taken, South Africa could be faced with a new form of “pharmaceutical apartheid,” like that experienced in the early days of the AIDS response, writes Professor Yousuf Vawda & Professor Brook K. Baker.
COVID-19: What we think we know about the epidemiological numbers
Many of the key epidemiological numbers for COVID-19 are still uncertain. Adele Baleta takes us through some of the best estimates out there.
COVID-19: How scientists found the fingerprint behind South Africa’s SARS-CoV-2 virus
A team of local scientists have put together the first genetic fingerprint of a SARS-CoV-2 virus found in South Africa. Spotlight spoke to two of the scientists to learn more.
COVID-19: Testing to be ramped up and new tests in pipeline
South Africa’s strategy to defeat COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) is to lockdown the country and upscale testing to quickly identify individuals who may have been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Why the new WHO COVID-19 therapeutic trial is a step in the right direction
South Africa will participate in a large new trial of four potential treatments for COVID-19. Marcus Low argues that the trial takes the right approach in establishing whether any of the potential treatments work.
COVID-19: The urgent, but long race for a vaccine
The COVID-19 virus is spreading rapidly globally and the race is on for a vaccine to curb the respiratory infection. Adele Baleta unpacks the research and development initiatives underway.
US invests more in TB research, SA investment drops, report finds
In 2018 the United States invested $371 million in tuberculosis research and development (R&D). South Africa invested $4.5 million (R64,9 million) – a dramatic decrease on 2017, but still high when measured as a proportion of all R&D spending in the country.
