In some instances, people can sue others for making them sick, explains Aziza Ahmed, a professor of law at Northeastern University. 

“We didn’t necessarily anticipate in early January that this was going to become a pandemic,” said Samuel Scarpino, an assistant professor at Northeastern University’s Network Science Institute and a member of the collaboration team.

Under the U.S. Constitution, states have “an inherent power to take actions to protect the health and wellbeing” of their residents, says Wendy E. Parmet, director of the Center for Health Policy and Law at Northeastern University.

“We didn’t necessarily anticipate in early January that this was going to become a pandemic,” said Samuel Scarpino, an assistant professor at Northeastern University’s Network Science Institute and a member of the collaboration team.

The government, media organizations and meme creators have all embraced the term “social distancing” when discussing how to stem the coronavirus pandemic. But Daniel Aldrich, a professor of political science and public policy at Northeastern University, is concerned that the term is misleading and that its widespread usage could be counterproductive. The World Health Organization […]

Construction sites are particularly dynamic workplaces, with new workers coming and going all the time, greatly increasing the number of people who come in contact with one another, said Jack Dennerlein, a professor at Northeastern University whose research includes health and safety issues in the construction industry.

With 1,159 cases and 11 deaths so far, Massachusetts is already experiencing its own local outbreak, which is likely driving the state epidemic’s growth far more than any potential spillover from New York, said Samuel Scarpino, an epidemiologist at Northeastern University.

Attitudes like Falwell’s represent “an absurdly callous perspective,” said Wendy Parmet, a Northeastern University law professor who specializes in health care and bioethics.

“This does feel like something that’s going to set all of that back a little bit,” said Sara Jensen Carr, a professor of architecture, urbanism and landscape at Northeastern University.

Although some firms have spent huge sums of money to ensure they have backup offices ready and waiting, it’s important to realise that this is a luxury, says Daniel Aldrich, director of the security and resilience program at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.