The World Health Organization, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) with support from UNICEF are set to work with telecommunication companies to text people directly on their mobile phones with vital health messaging to help protect them from COVID-19. These text messages will reach billions of people that aren’t able to connect to the internet for information.

Now more than ever, technology must ensure that everyone can access the information they need. The collaboration wi...

The number of people officially identified as infected with coronavirus in Italy has fallen for the first time since the country's outbreak began, authorities have said.




As of Monday, there were 108,237 people either being treated in hospital or recovering at home, 20 fewer than the previous day.

Authorities say the small but symbolic drop is a "positive development".

Italy's lockdown continues until 3 May but some businesses have reopened.

They include...

Across the world, governments and health authorities are working together to find solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic, to protect people and get society back up and running. Software developers are contributing by crafting technical tools to help combat the virus and save lives. In this spirit of collaboration, Google and Apple are announcing a joint effort to enable the use of Bluetooth technology to help governments and health agencies reduce the spread of the virus, with user privacy an...

Herd immunity hopes dealt blow by report suggesting only 2%-3% of people have been infected.

Only a tiny proportion of the global population – maybe as few as 2% or 3% – appear to have antibodies in the blood showing they have been infected with Covid-19, according to the World Health Organization, a finding that bodes ill for hopes that herd immunity will ease the exit from lockdown.

“Easing restrictions is not the end of the epidemic in any country,” said WHO director-general ...

The newly emergent human virus SARS-CoV-2 is resulting in high fatality rates and incapacitated health systems. Preventing further transmission is a priority. We analyzed key parameters of epidemic spread to estimate the contribution of different transmission routes and determine requirements for case isolation and contact-tracing needed to stop the epidemic. We conclude that viral spread is too fast to be contained by manual contact tracing, but could be controlled if this process was faster...

A team at Oxford University is sharing an epidemiological model to help configure a contact tracing app for coronavirus. The model offers several safe configurations to introduce an app and a framework to optimise the app after it is released.The simulations confirm that if around half the total population use the app, alongside other interventions, it has the potential to stop the epidemic and help to keep countries out of lockdown. These research efforts are supporting several European proj...

Across the world, governments and health authorities are working together to find solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic, to protect people and get society back up and running. Software developers are contributing by crafting technical tools to help combat the virus and save lives. In this spirit of collaboration, Google and Apple are announcing a joint effort to enable the use of Bluetooth technology to help governments and health agencies reduce the spread of the virus, with user privacy an...

In this article, we take a look back at some of the other pandemics that humans have endured. Specifically, we investigate cholera, the Black Death, and the Spanish flu, among others. We will note any similarities and take lessons where we can.

Pandemics have played a role in shaping human history throughout the ages. Few people reading this today will remember outbreaks on this scale, but history shows us that although it is devastating, what we are experiencing now is nothing unusual...

SARS-CoV-2 is a betacoronavirus that is most closely related to SARS-CoV. Both viruses use the angiotensin-converting enzyme–related carboxypeptidase (ACE2) receptor to gain entry to cells. This receptor is widely expressed in cardiopulmonary tissues but also in some hematopoietic cells, including monocytes and macrophages. A key feature of COVID-19 infection is lymphopenia (low blood lymphocyte count), which correlates with clinical severity. SARS-CoV efficiently infects primary human mo...

The newly emergent human virus SARS-CoV-2 is resulting in high fatality rates and incapacitated health systems. Preventing further transmission is a priority. We analyzed key parameters of epidemic spread to estimate the contribution of different transmission routes and determine requirements for case isolation and contact-tracing needed to stop the epidemic. We conclude that viral spread is too fast to be contained by manual contact tracing, but could be controlled if this process was faster...

A team at Oxford University is sharing an epidemiological model to help configure a contact tracing app for coronavirus. The model offers several safe configurations to introduce an app and a framework to optimise the app after it is released.The simulations confirm that if around half the total population use the app, alongside other interventions, it has the potential to stop the epidemic and help to keep countries out of lockdown. These research efforts are supporting several European proj...

Balancing the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) for patients with cancer and health-care workers with the need to continue to provide effective treatment and care is changing how oncology teams work worldwide. “The pandemic has meant a transformation of every aspect of cancer care, irres- pective of treatment, inpatient or outpatient, and radical or palliative intent,” said James Spicer (Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK).

High rates of sickne...