At the moment, it seems that a real boom in conspiracy theories has been unleashed. How is it possible that a completely new virus emerged from nowhere, causing so many deaths? Many believe that it has to be part of a wider conspiracy. The internet continues to be swamped with all sorts of conspiracy theories. Which raises the question: why do so many people believe in the most improbable stories, and why do we have a problem with that?
Doctoral students Elaheh Niazi from Iran and David Gleerup from Denmark arrived in Ghent around the beginning of the second lockdown. Although they have already been here for several months, they have actually hardly seen the city, or even colleagues.
For a year already, corona has been affecting our lives and work. Many people at Ghent University are employing their expertise in research relating to the virus. Some more publicly, and others behind the scenes.
A test that ‘weighs’ whether and how much corona you have, but can also recognize flu and perhaps even cancer. That’s what molecular biologist Maarten Dhaenens and PhD student Bart Van Puyvelde have been working on for the past year. “This way of testing offers so many possibilities for the future.”
What if we had one jab instead of two? Or what if we first vaccinated the active population, and only then those less mobile? Such questions cross everyone’s mind from time to time. At Ghent University, biostatisticians actually make models to see what these questions mean.
Helping out with vaccinations is the new sought-after activity among students. More than 300 of them have signed up via 25 different student associations as volunteers for the vaccination center at Flanders Expo. Four students explain how they are helping to steer the vaccination of 1600 people a day in the right direction.
Since the beginning of the first lockdown, Ghent University has been gauging how and why we comply with the rules. Meanwhile, the motivation barometer has become a unique behavioral study with unprecedented social relevance. “We provide scientifically substantiated policy advice to support our motivation drivers,” says Professor Maarten Vansteenkiste, the driving force behind the study.
Will we soon have dogs sniffing us out en masse in the fight against coronavirus? It’s possible, as tracker dogs appear to be more accurate in detecting coronavirus than traditional tests. Moreover, it is faster and a lot cheaper. “The first results from our corona dogs are very good,” says Ghent University researcher Chris Callewaert. “They achieve an average accuracy of 95 per cent.”
Ghent University’s Motivation Barometer suggests that two out of ten Belgians are sceptical about the corona vaccines. Philosopher of science and researcher at Ghent University Massimiliano Simons and moral philosopher Brecht Decoene, two specialists in conspiracy thinking and anti-vaxxers, explain how to counter this doubt and opposition.
The corona crisis is having a major negative impact on the most vulnerable refugees, according to a study by the World Health Organization published last Friday, on the International Day of Migrants. It was researchers from Ghent University and the University of Copenhagen that developed this report. “We are very happy that the WHO chose to run with our study. In this way our work can have worldwide resonance.”
Corona continues to rule our lives and activities, after causing over 1.3 million deaths worldwide, of which 15,000 in Belgium. Yet what appears to be reaching unseen and unknown proportions is certainly not the first epidemic to have been felt in this area.
“From an infection point of view, we should already have gone to code red in September.” That’s what Professor Steven Callens of UZ Gent says. As head of the Infectious Diseases department, he was one of those who gave advice to the rector about switching to code red. “We are concerned about the health of the students. The virus will only stop through human actions,” he says.
