Skip to Content Skip to Content

Coronavirus Research

As coronavirus spreads in the US, employers gear up for massive work-from-home experiment

As coronavirus spreads in the US, employers gear up for massive work-from-home experiment

Peter Cappelli of the Wharton School discussed how workplaces are preparing for the spread of the novel coronavirus. “We’re trying to figure out how to keep the business going when people can’t get to the office,” he said. “My sense is the first thing that will happen, and the most likely thing is that it's not that all your employees will be too sick to work, it's that they won't be in the office.”

A reality check on coronavirus
microscopic view of coronavirus

A reality check on coronavirus

The novel disease is serious. But risks here remain low, says Ezekiel J. Emanuel, vice provost for global initiatives, who attended a World Health Organization meeting on the subject last week.

Katherine Unger Baillie

The coronavirus is spreading rapidly. So is misinformation about it

The coronavirus is spreading rapidly. So is misinformation about it

PIK Professor Duncan Watts spoke about the prevalence of misinformation regarding health scares. “In any contest between someone who says, ‘It’s complicated and we don’t know the answer,’ and another person who says, ‘We know what to do,’ the other person will always get more attention—even when we know they’re not right—because it’s simple and appealing and lends itself to action,” he said.

Coronavirus math shows the importance of social distancing, and the horrible consequences of not doing it

Coronavirus math shows the importance of social distancing, and the horrible consequences of not doing it

Research by Hanming Fang of the School of Arts and Sciences and colleagues was cited. “Social distancing and, if an epicenter can be identified, as was the case for the city of Wuhan in China, a lockdown can play crucial roles in ‘flattening’ the daily infection cases curve, giving the stressed medical system a chance to regroup and deal with the onslaught of new infection cases,” wrote Fang and his coauthors.

UPenn chaplain discusses the decision to cancel classes, and the difficulties in returning to normal during coronavirus

UPenn chaplain discusses the decision to cancel classes, and the difficulties in returning to normal during coronavirus

University Chaplain Charles “Chaz” Howard spoke about adapting to remote work during the coronavirus pandemic. “I think one of things I’ve been trying to tell my colleagues is to not try to replicate what we were doing beforehand,” he said. “It’s OK if it’s not as good as it was before. We’re learning as we go. We’re just doing our best.”