Our history is a battle against the microbes: we lost terribly before science, public health, and vaccines allowed us to protect ourselves: Humanity’s history is a continuous battle between us and the microbes.1 For most of our history we were on the losing side.
It wasn’t even close. We were losing very decisively. Billions of children died from infectious diseases. They were the main reason why child mortality was so high: No matter where or when they were born, around half died as children.
21 julho 2020
En la mente de un obseso compulsivo con los virus
En la mente de un obseso compulsivo con los virus: “La sociedad no está preparada”: “El tema del miedo a una enfermedad es uno de los más primarios que hay”
20 julho 2020
10 Types of Work to Automate or Move Online for a COVID-19 World
10 Types of Work to Automate or Move Online for a COVID-19 World: Here then are 10 particularly promising technologies for the COVID era:
Automated ordering and service in restaurants. Restaurants could reopen more safely if patrons could order and pay on their own mobile devices. And some restaurants can automate further by having robotic food delivery carts bring the food to tables and using robots to cook orders.
Brick-and-mortar retail automation. Some retailers that sell essential products, like prescription drugs and groceries, have remained open, but most others have not. Retail automation technologies—which can include everything from robotic floor cleaning, as Walmart is deploying, to self-checkout registers (or “grab and go” systems like those in Amazon Go stores), to robotic restocking of shelves—will let more stores open with fewer risks to workers.
Autonomous mobile robots for warehouses and fulfillment centers. Without e-commerce companies like Amazon and Walmart, life in quarantine would be much more difficult. But while e-commerce lets customers shop from home, fulfilment center workers must still show up to work together. Increased use of autonomous mobile robots, or AMRs, can enable fulfillment centers to be less person-intensive.
Automated delivery. From autonomous robots taking meals to homes and offices, to drones delivering packages, autonomous delivery services can replace local delivery drivers and couriers.
Hospital robotic automation. Hospitals are on the front lines of the crisis, so automation that can reduce front-line care givers’ exposure is critical. Robots can substitute for humans in carrying out an array of tasks, including picking up trash, delivering medications to patients, disinfecting areas with UV light, and even giving patients certain tests.
Autonomous taxis. Fully functional autonomous vehicles are still being developed but some designs are beginning to be put into service, as Waymo is doing in Phoenix. Widespread deployment, perhaps with cars that automatically disinfect with UV light after each passenger, can enable mobility without proximity, something that many people will desire.
Autonomous trucks and freight rail. Long-haul truck drivers already face many health and safety hazards in their jobs, and being on the road now adds to the danger by exposing them to the virus, too. Freight railroads have fewer safety hazards, but they operate with two workers per locomotive, an engineer and a conductor, which increases health risks in a pandemic. The technologies for autonomy are improving, and once they are ready regulations should reflect that new reality.
Telehealth. Regulations covering electronically delivered health care services—a.k.a., “telehealth”—are largely set at the state level and are heavily influenced by the medical lobby, which has resisted widespread adoption because of fear of competition. But technologies enabling telehealth are here today, and while many states and the federal government have instituted temporary waivers to enable telehealth, it is time for a national law to enable telehealth across state lines on a permanent basis.
Automated hotel staff. Eventually people will begin traveling again, and when they do, hotel workers will be on the front lines. Hotels have a number of options for increasing automation, including robot valets that can carry luggage and deliver room service, automated concierges to provide guest information, and kiosks and mobile apps that enable self-service check-in and checkout.
Automated meat processing. Meat and poultry processing plants have unfortunately been hotbeds of coronavirus infections, in part because employees work in close proximity. Fortunately, robots and related technologies are showing promise in reducing the labor intensity of this production.
Automated ordering and service in restaurants. Restaurants could reopen more safely if patrons could order and pay on their own mobile devices. And some restaurants can automate further by having robotic food delivery carts bring the food to tables and using robots to cook orders.
Brick-and-mortar retail automation. Some retailers that sell essential products, like prescription drugs and groceries, have remained open, but most others have not. Retail automation technologies—which can include everything from robotic floor cleaning, as Walmart is deploying, to self-checkout registers (or “grab and go” systems like those in Amazon Go stores), to robotic restocking of shelves—will let more stores open with fewer risks to workers.
Autonomous mobile robots for warehouses and fulfillment centers. Without e-commerce companies like Amazon and Walmart, life in quarantine would be much more difficult. But while e-commerce lets customers shop from home, fulfilment center workers must still show up to work together. Increased use of autonomous mobile robots, or AMRs, can enable fulfillment centers to be less person-intensive.
Automated delivery. From autonomous robots taking meals to homes and offices, to drones delivering packages, autonomous delivery services can replace local delivery drivers and couriers.
Hospital robotic automation. Hospitals are on the front lines of the crisis, so automation that can reduce front-line care givers’ exposure is critical. Robots can substitute for humans in carrying out an array of tasks, including picking up trash, delivering medications to patients, disinfecting areas with UV light, and even giving patients certain tests.
Autonomous taxis. Fully functional autonomous vehicles are still being developed but some designs are beginning to be put into service, as Waymo is doing in Phoenix. Widespread deployment, perhaps with cars that automatically disinfect with UV light after each passenger, can enable mobility without proximity, something that many people will desire.
Autonomous trucks and freight rail. Long-haul truck drivers already face many health and safety hazards in their jobs, and being on the road now adds to the danger by exposing them to the virus, too. Freight railroads have fewer safety hazards, but they operate with two workers per locomotive, an engineer and a conductor, which increases health risks in a pandemic. The technologies for autonomy are improving, and once they are ready regulations should reflect that new reality.
Telehealth. Regulations covering electronically delivered health care services—a.k.a., “telehealth”—are largely set at the state level and are heavily influenced by the medical lobby, which has resisted widespread adoption because of fear of competition. But technologies enabling telehealth are here today, and while many states and the federal government have instituted temporary waivers to enable telehealth, it is time for a national law to enable telehealth across state lines on a permanent basis.
Automated hotel staff. Eventually people will begin traveling again, and when they do, hotel workers will be on the front lines. Hotels have a number of options for increasing automation, including robot valets that can carry luggage and deliver room service, automated concierges to provide guest information, and kiosks and mobile apps that enable self-service check-in and checkout.
Automated meat processing. Meat and poultry processing plants have unfortunately been hotbeds of coronavirus infections, in part because employees work in close proximity. Fortunately, robots and related technologies are showing promise in reducing the labor intensity of this production.
Transparency, communication and trust
Transparency, communication and trust: The role of public communication in responding to the wave of disinformation about the new coronavirus: The global spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) has been accompanied by a wave of disinformation that is undermining policy responses and amplifying distrust and concern among citizens. Around the world, governments are leveraging public communication to counteract disinformation and support policy. The efficacy of these actions will depend on grounding them in open government principles, chiefly transparency, to build trust in public institutions.
This policy brief provides an overview of this new wave of disinformation and notes some emerging examples of OECD member countries’ responses to it through public communication initiatives specifically. It also offers preliminary guidelines on engaging with citizens during the crisis to help address this challenge.
Combatting COVID-19 disinformation on online platforms
Combatting COVID-19 disinformation on online platforms: Disinformation and misinformation about COVID-19 is quickly and widely disseminated across the Internet, reaching and potentially influencing many people.
This policy brief derives four key actions that governments and platforms can take to counter COVID-19 disinformation on platforms, namely:
1) supporting a multiplicity of independent fact-checking organisations;
2) ensuring human moderators are in place to complement technological solutions;
3) voluntarily issuing transparency reports about COVID-19 disinformation; and
4) improving users’ media, digital and health literacy skills.
Subscrever:
Comentários (Atom)
-
The Value of a Cure: An Asset Pricing Perspective : We provide an estimate of the value of a cure using the joint behavior of stock prices ...
-
The dangers of Covid-19 far outweigh the risks of a vaccine : So can I tell you that there won't be a long-term unknown side effect to t...
-
The Oxford/AstraZeneca Vaccine Efficacy Data : We’re going to have to wait and collect more data to be able to say anything about these, fo...