Coronavirus Research

Tarik Sharif Khan, a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Nursing, wrote an op-ed about the struggle to access needed medical supplies amidst the coronavirus pandemic. “While local and state officials like Mayor Jim Kenney and Gov. Tom Wolf are trying to obtain supplies and prepare for the surge of COVID-19 cases, their ability to respond is ultimately limited by the powers the president chooses to exercise, and the support the federal government offers,” he wrote.

Carrie Kovarik of the Perelman School of Medicine debunked the claim that mupirocin can be used in the nose to prevent COVID-19. “It’s an antibiotic not an antiviral and does not have activity against viruses,” she said. “People are just sort of grasping at straws.”

PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel commented on Florida’s decision to exempt religious services from the stay-at-home order. “It’s unacceptable,” he said. “I’m feeling deprived not being able to go to synagogue. It really bothers me. But it’s really important.”

Dean J. Larry Jameson and Ron Collman of the Perelman School of Medicine commented on Penn’s global, virtual symposium on the coronavirus. “As all of you know, we’re in the middle of a crisis and crisis require leaders and action,” said Jameson.

S. Abu Turab Rizvi and Peter Eckel of the Graduate School of Education wrote that higher education institutions have led the nation in confronting COVID-19. “They have the opportunity to continue to demonstrate by their actions today the deep societal value of education, research, expertise and community commitment,” they wrote.

PIK Professor Jonathan Moreno said it was inappropriate for medical manufacturing companies to have been dwelling on matters of liability back in early March, as the pandemic was looming. “You didn’t have to be a fancy epidemiologist or Dr. [Anthony S.] Fauci to know what was coming,” he said.

PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel and Steven Joffe of the Perelman School of Medicine recommended that the U.S. create a COVID-19 Recovery Corps of people who have survived the infection and become immune. These people could be employed as hospital support staff, educators, food delivery workers, and more.

Susan Wachter of the Wharton School spoke about the possibility of mass defaults on home mortgages due to the pandemic. “This is an unprecedented event,” she said. “The great financial crisis happened over a number of years. This is happening in a matter of months--a matter of weeks.”