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Coronavirus developments at a glance—29 May

A European supercomputer link up, UK advisory openness and more Australian Covid-19 cuts

Europe
The UK and Switzerland are contributing some of their computing power to an international supercomputing consortium researching the Covid-19 pandemic, becoming the first European countries to join the public-private initiative.

UK
The Government Office for Science has published the minutes from the first 34 Covid-19 meetings of its Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, but several government observer names are redacted from the Sage minutes. The government’s scientific advisers should be representing science, not politics, the shadow science minister has said.

The computer code behind the scientific modelling of epidemics should meet independent, professional standards to ensure public trust, IT experts said following controversies over pandemic modelling by Imperial College London epidemiologist Neil Ferguson.

A group of charities has pitched a “civic army” to reduce the risk of mass unemployment for disadvantaged young people as the coronavirus crisis continues.

Australia
Several of Australia’s universities have said they plan to target management and administration roles as part of job cuts to offset heavy budget losses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

A university of Queensland academic has said that social psychology is emerging as a critical tool for Covid-19 communication strategies.