As the systems that people depend on are increasingly strained by the COVID-19 outbreak, public health impacts are manifesting in different ways beyond morbidity and mortality for elderly populations. Loneliness is already a chief public health concern that is being made worse by COVID-19. Agencies should recognize the prevalence of loneliness amongst elderly populations and the impacts that their interventions have on loneliness. This letter describes several ways that loneliness can be addressed to build resilience for elderly populations as part of public health response to COVID-19.

On December 31st, 2019, the Chinese government officially announced that the country had a single pneumonia case with an unknown cause. In the weeks after, South Korea had 24 confirmed cases by February 8th, and the number has increased steadily since then. The highly contagious virus known as COVID-19 infected Case No. 31 in Daegu; she was the first patient related to Sincheonji Church. Later, the number of cases involved with Sincheonji skyrocketed. On March 6th, 2020, the number of confirmed cases was 6,284, with 42 dead. This study, through collecting epidemiological data about various COVID-19 infection cases, discovered that getting together in large groups leads to massive infection, and that paying close attention to personal hygiene via wearing masks, sanitary gloves, etc. can prevent the spread of COVID-19. Additional epidemiological data and related studies on COVID-19 infections in South Korea are likely to support or slightly modify this conclusion. However, this study is significant in that it emphasizes the precautionary principle in preventing and managing infectious diseases, and has a suggestion for public health policies which are currently in high demand.

In the COVID-19 pandemic, whistleblowers have become the essential watchdogs disrupting suppression and control of information. Many governments have intentionally not disclosed information or failed to do so in a timely manner, misled the public or even promoted false beliefs. Fierce public interest defenders are pushing back against this censorship. Dr Fen and Dr Wenliang were the first whistleblowers in China to report that a new pandemic was possibly underway and ever since numerous other whistleblowers around the world have been reporting on the spread of the virus, the lack of medical equipment and other information of public interest. This paper maps the relevant whistleblowing cases in China, US and Europe and shows that many whistleblowers are initially censored, face disciplinary measures or even dismissals. At the same time, whistleblowing during the COVID-19 pandemic has drawn public attention to the shortcomings of institutional reporting systems and a wider appreciation of whistleblowers as uniquely placed to expose risk at early stages. Ultimately, whistleblowing as a means to transparency is not only becoming ever less controversial, but during COVID-19 it has become the ‘remedy’ to censorship.