They have become a symbol of China’s recent wave of protests: Blank, white sheets of paper held aloft by demonstrators to signify their opposition to anti-virus lockdowns, censorship and freedom of speech. As videos of crowds holding up paper sheets and chanting slogans flooded the internet last weekend, Chinese-language social media posts have come to Read more
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many lost the habit of churchgoing after almost every church in the country closed down their in-person services and shifted online. But did some of them give up on God? Sociologists like Michael Hout want to know. Hout, a professor of sociology at New York University, has long tracked the Read more
A new study is challenging health evidence that led a worldwide choir ban during the Covid-19 pandemic. Choir practices and performances were forbidden for 18 months after a damning health report into one of the first US Covid-19 outbreaks among a church choir. Fifty-three people who attended the March 2020 choir practice developed symptoms. The Read more
Australia’s Covid-19 case numbers are on the rise again, with health officials signalling the arrival of new Omicron subvariants as a new wave begins. It’s the first sustained uptick since the “winter wave” of Omicron subvariant BA.5, University of Melbourne public health researcher Nancy Baxter told RN Breakfast on Friday. “You have things like wastewater Read more
Nearly three years of pandemic-related disruption has damaged learning in some schools and left others almost unscathed. In some areas principals warned it could take years for children to catch up on what they have missed, while others said achievement was no different from before the pandemic. Schools visited by RNZ also described effects including Read more
New data suggest that most patients with COVID-19 who have lingering symptoms at 12 months are likely to still have symptoms at 18 months. The findings are drawn from a large study of 33,281 people in Scotland who tested positive for the coronavirus. Most of the results are in line with those from earlier, smaller Read more
COVID-19 restrictions are winding down and in Australia, as of Friday anyone who tests positive will no longer be required to isolate. It is one of the last COVID rules to be scrapped following two years of restrictions lead by health advice. Masks, too, seem to be being left behind. Once mandatory in public places, Read more
Recently in The New York Times, guest writer Francis Sanzaro wrote a beautiful reflection on the experience of walking. Often we think of walking in terms of what it can deliver us: A reduction of anxiety! An increase in creativity! Our much-vaunted steps! He says we’ve got it all wrong. The real gift of a walk Read more
New Zealand’s Catholic bishops have lifted the remaining Covid-19 restrictions on attending Mass. After the Government lifted all restrictions this week, the bishops followed suit. At the same time, they issued an invitation. We are happy to extend an enthusiastic invitation for all Catholics of Aotearoa New Zealand to return to full and active participation Read more
The Government was justified in blocking churches from holding large gatherings during the red traffic light setting under the Government’s Covid-19 response, the High Court has ruled. But a group of churches say the restrictions essentially forced them to excommunicate members and seriously infringed on the separation of Church and State. The measures included imposing Read more