See how a cough travels without a mask and with

A lab at Florida Atlantic University is simulating a human cough to understand how far and fast cough droplets can spread. The droplets travel as far as 12ft in 30 to 40 seconds.

View here (CNN, May 4, 2020)

Did China cover-up the Covid-19 outbreak?

As the global effort to control Covid-19 continues so arguments about culpability for the spread of the pandemic intensify. At the centre of the story is China, where the outbreak began. Did the Chinese government’s impulse to cover up the truth cost the world dear? Or did China respond with admirable determination? HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to the veteran Chinese Ambassador in London Liu Xiaoming. Is China the villain or the hero of this pandemic?

View here (BBC, Youtube, April 29, 2020)

How Covid-19 immunity compares to other diseases

If you get Covid-19 and recover does that mean you are immune to the virus? If you become immune, how long does that immunity last? We are still looking for answers to many of these questions. In the meantime, Dr. Seema Yasmin takes a look at the human body's immunity to some other viral infections such as chickenpox, HIV and the common cold.

View here (Wired, 9-minute video, April 17, 2020)

Musim Sengsara or The Season of Suffering

Heritage activist Khoo Salma has written an inspirational song dedicated to frontline health workers against Covid-19 in Malaysia. Sung by Ayie, it is entitled ‘The Season of Suffering’ or ‘Musim Sengsara’

View here (Youtube, April 17, 2020)

Watch a video on making surgical masks as safe as N95 masks: Towards Surgical Mask Brace 2.0, a scalable, open source design by ex-Apple engineers

Why adapt surgical masks?

• ‘Safety: Surgical masks have a government standard that regulates their filtration efficiency. They are regulated to meet ASTM standard F2100 which guarantees filtering 95% or more of COVID-19 sized particles.
• ‘Accessible: Surgical masks are faster to manufacture and more readily available. Currently, of the 200 million masks China makes a day, only 600,000 are N95 standard masks. That means surgical masks can be made more than 300x faster than N95’s.’

Watch here (fixthemask.com, undated)

Cruising ban now extended for months! What you need to know

COMMENT: This will affect all industries related to tourism and hospitality. The hotel and travel industries in general may learn a bit from the 7 requirements to address before the cruising ban will be lifted. 

‘On 9 April 2020, the USA CDC (Center for Disease Control) issued an updated “no-sail cruise ban” for cruise lines and ships operating in and out of USA ports and waters. This strong ruling suggests cruising will be prohibited in and out of the USA until at least 18 July 2020, and probably longer. The lift of the cruise ban is also subject to the CDC agreeing cruise lines proposal on how to address at least 7 major areas and issues, which could significantly change the facilities and way that cruising operates. In this video, I explore the ban including (1) how long the order looks to ban cruising, (2) why they are taking such a strong stance and (3) the 7 things that cruising have to address and convince them on before the cruising ban will be lifted.’

View here (Tips for Travellers, Youtube, April 10, 2020)

Paul Krugman: ‘We really are talking about a depression level event’

‘Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman tells Lawrence O’Donnell that Trump and his allies in Congress are “balking” at the things that need to be done to support parts of the economy that need the most help, like small businesses, hospitals and local governments: “We are at risk of turning this into even worse than it has to be… the administration is refusing to acknowledge the depth of the problem and is trying to pursue an ideological agenda that is getting in the way of dealing with this”.’

View here (MSNBC, Youtube, April 15, 2020)

Social distancing in China now: A vlog by The China Traveller, a UK citizen who lived through the lockdown in Beijing

‘Life is very gradually returning to normal in China, but there are still loads of social distancing measures in place. Some measures are hi-tech whereas others are quite the opposite. I want to show everyone how social distancing works in the capital, Beijing, at a time when people are starting to return to their normal lives. If you're in another country and you're still unsure of what social distancing should entail, this video might help you understand how others around the world are doing it.’

View here (The China Traveller, Youtube, March 25, 2020)