Covid-19 and life expectancy made bad partners in most countries during the pandemic. The virus made global life expectancy fall. Except that is in New Zealand, Australia and a few other countries. Here and in those places, the long-standing trend of people living longer continues. The pandemic’s toll About 15.9 million deaths have been attributed Read more
A recent study highlighted the significant impact of Covid-19 vaccines in New Zealand, notably reducing deaths and hospitalisations during the Omicron phase. Published in Vaccine, the research estimates vaccines averted 4,000 to 12,000 deaths and 34,000 to 56,000 hospitalisations within 18 months from January 2022. However, among the highlighted outcomes were the disparities in health Read more
A new national survey shows students in the United States are still struggling to make up learning loss experienced over the course of the COVID-19 crisis. The report this week from NWEA examined test scores from nearly 7 million elementary and middle school students in about 20,000 public schools around the US. The researchers found Read more
“The ongoing issue of low attendance in NZ Catholic schools is a pressing concern” says Dr Kevin Shore, Chief Executive of the New Zealand Catholic Education Office (NZCEO). “Student success is vital. It opens doors to life’s best opportunities and allows school graduates to contribute positively to society,” Shore told CathNews. Acknowledging that the factors Read more
There is a risk that school attendance levels will not return to their pre-pandemic norm, says head of New South Wales Catholic schools, Dallas McInerney. He wants an inquiry into the long-term consequences of shutting down schools during the pandemic. In a speech to school leaders last week, McInerney said he had argued to keep Read more
More than a year after the Government launched a top-level advisory group on Long Covid, leading experts worry sufferers are still being let down by the health system. Those concerns have been aired in a series of just-released video interviews, as the Ministry of Health says it’s impossible to quantify how many people are living Read more
Just because the World Health Organisation (WHO) says the Covid-19 health emergency is over, it doesn’t mean everything’s OK. Far from it. It’s still a global health and welfare threat, WHO officials say. We can expect the same devastating health and social consequences will continue to plague us. The virus keeps evolving and spreading. Many Read more
It seems no sooner than all Covid restrictions have been lifted from Catholic churches – the sneeze-proof face mask, the empty holy water stoup, the contactless signs of peace, that a selection of lurgies have made themselves known. The rising number of Covid cases, hospitalisations and deaths suggest we could be in for another rough Read more
A shortage of nurses across the world has created a global health emergency. The International Council of Nurses (ICN) estimates 13 million nurses will need to be replaced within the coming years. ICNs March 2023 report says the global nursing shortage was as high as 30.6 million in 2019. That was before the pandemic. The Read more
The strange case of parents wanting ‘unjabbed’ blood for their baby has reignited Covid conspiracies thought lost to 2021. Tony Wall and Nikki Macdonald explain that the family are ‘realistic’ about what lies ahead, along with the other key factors at play. The parents of the baby at the centre of the “unjabbed blood” case Read more