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Penn Integrates Knowledge Professors

Economics, not politics, helps explain why coronavirus and other diseases started in China

Economics, not politics, helps explain why coronavirus and other diseases started in China

PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel and Scott Moore of the School of Arts & Sciences wrote about why many highly infectious diseases appear to originate in China. “First, rapid development in highly biodiverse regions brings more people into contact with exotic animals and the viruses that lurk within them,” they wrote. “Second, ever-more-extensive transport, trade and communications links continue to shorten the distances between a potential pandemic hot spot and virtually any other point on the globe.”

In coronavirus pandemic, for health care workers, despair is only human

In coronavirus pandemic, for health care workers, despair is only human

PIK Professor Jonathan Moreno and Stephen N. Xenakis of the Law School wrote about health care workers facing burnout and moral injury while working through the pandemic. “The health care workers fighting the ‘war on the virus’ deserve unqualified and public acknowledgment for their selfless service,” they wrote. “It is especially tough for them, and they should not be forgotten.”

Penn Nursing providing free telehealth training during pandemic

Penn Nursing providing free telehealth training during pandemic

School of Nursing Dean Antonia Villarruel and PIK Professor George Demiris commented on Penn’s free online trainings for health care providers. “During the COVID-19 crisis, significant barriers to the wide adoption of telehealth have been lifted,” said Demiris. “Many providers are now eager to do telehealth. This is a modality that we’ll be using for a long time.”

Why are so many black Americans dying of COVID-19?

Why are so many black Americans dying of COVID-19?

In an op-ed, Carmen E. Guerra of the Perelman School of Medicine and PIK Professor Karen Glanz wrote, “This pandemic has shined a bright light on the social and health disparities that affect black individuals in non-pandemic times. In the time of COVID, we need to address these disparities with even more urgency.”

Five signs of failure

Five signs of failure

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.”

Inside America’s mask crunch: A slow government reaction and an industry wary of liability

Inside America’s mask crunch: A slow government reaction and an industry wary of liability

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.

We need smart solutions to mitigate the coronavirus’s impact. Here are 16

We need smart solutions to mitigate the coronavirus’s impact. Here are 16

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.