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Coronavirus
Direct-to-consumer COVID-19 testing
Direct-to-consumer COVID-19 testing
Concerns over direct-to-consumer COVID-19 tests may override the benefits, with issues of safety, efficacy, and ethics in question.
The role of data in a world reshaped by COVID-19
The role of data in a world reshaped by COVID-19
Experts across Penn share their insights on how data and data science affect their fields in the context of an ongoing pandemic.
Creating a positive home environment, and other tips for uncertain times
Creating a positive home environment, and other tips for uncertain times
Experts at Penn GSE share ways to help parents and teachers care for their students and their own mental wellness during the pandemic.
How have new social norms emerged as COVID-19 has spread?
How have new social norms emerged as COVID-19 has spread?
In a study of nine countries, researcher Cristina Bicchieri found that motivating people to modify behavior requires changing their expectations about the actions and thoughts of those who matter to them.
An update on COVID-19’s impact on the University
An update on COVID-19’s impact on the University
At the October University Council meeting, key milestones in Penn’s reopening process were discussed, as well as the role of testing, contact tracing, and compliance with the Campus Compact in Penn’s COVID-19 mitigation strategy.
Contact tracing: A piece of a multilayered campus public health strategy
Contact tracing: A piece of a multilayered campus public health strategy
With the goal of mitigating the spread of COVID-19 and supporting the community with health guidance and information, contact tracing is part of Penn’s systemic approach to keeping the campus healthy during the pandemic.
Calculating the costs of school closures, reopenings
Calculating the costs of school closures, reopenings
The Penn Wharton Budget Model released a report that describes the anticipated loss of future wages for K-12 students as a result of lower-quality education from school closures.
Housing initiative fuels cooperation between cities during pandemic
Housing initiative fuels cooperation between cities during pandemic
Vincent Reina and Amy Castro Baker are working with the U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, through the Housing Initiative at Penn to design a housing assistance plan both during the pandemic and after.
England, Wales, Scotland among nations with highest death toll from COVID-19 pandemic
England, Wales, Scotland among nations with highest death toll from COVID-19 pandemic
An international team including Penn demographer Michel Guillot found that from mid-February through May, 21 industrialized nations combined saw an 18% increase in deaths, or 206,000 more people dying from all causes than would have been expected had the pandemic not occurred.
Fostering kittens, plus more side gigs for good
Fostering kittens, plus more side gigs for good
Around nearly any corner, the Penn community’s selflessness shines through, despite months apart due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the News
The New York Times
Why you shouldn’t worry about studies showing waning coronavirus antibodies
Scott Hensley of the Perelman School of Medicine said it’s normal for antibody levels to drop after the body clears an infection. “It doesn’t mean that those people no longer have antibodies. It doesn’t mean that they don’t have protection,” he said.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
America can overcome COVID-19, despite Trump’s do-nothing approach. Here’s how
PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel spoke about the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic and offered advice to a possible Biden administration. “There must be a management strategy, with the locus in the White House,” said Emanuel.
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NBC News
Women who inspire: Culturists breaking through during COVID-19
Alison Buttenheim of the School of Nursing helped found “Dear Pandemic,” a project that recruits doctoral-degree-holding women to answer complex questions about the coronavirus on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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Business Insider
A Chinese city says it tested 3 million people for COVID-19 in 2 days, showing how much the U.S. and Europe still lag behind in testing capability
Carolyn Cannuscio of the Perelman School of Medicine commented on the U.S. ability to test for COVID-19. “We have a broken testing system, and that sets us up for failure in contact tracing because people are waiting so long to get their test results that we have missed a critical period for counseling those people to stay home and avoid infecting others,” she said.
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The Hill
Advocates plead for housing aid as eviction cliff looms
Michael Levy of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the dangers posed by evictions during a pandemic. “Larger households are dangerous for infectious disease because you have more people so there's more avenues of ingress of the virus,” he said. “The worry was even a fairly modest change in the household size structure in a population could have kind of an outsized effect on an epidemic on a city scale.”
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The New York Times
Can Trump really speed approval of COVID treatments?
Susan Ellenberg of the Perelman School of Medicine said she’d want to see clinical trial data before deciding whether to trust a coronavirus vaccine that was approved under Emergency Use Authorization. “If it looked to me like it was very effective, and I didn’t see any safety problems, then definitely,” she said. “I think I would recommend people getting it. I would get it myself.”
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