Coronavirus | Penn Today

Young child on a laptop at the kitchen table.

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.

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.

Person sitting cross-legged on an airport chair looking at a phone. A suitcase is in front of the image. A chair next to the person has a large, red X and read "Social Distancing."

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.

a person with a bike walking in front of college hall on a sunny day

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.

two people wearing masks talking in front of a tent entrance to a covid testing site

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.

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.

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.

Person wearing a face mask riding a bike with the London cityscape in the background.

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.

A dog sitting on a couch, with a kitten nuzzled in its lap.

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.

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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