Coronavirus Research

Drying medical masks hanging due to a scarcity of PPE in hospitals

How can hospitals address scarce resources during COVID-19?

Most hospitals have general contingency plans for resource allocation in times of medical scarcity, but not detailed guidelines for the process of actually making those allocation decisions. School of Arts and Sciences political scientist and LDI Senior Fellow Julia Lynch has created those guidelines.

cartoon of a hand holding a magnifying glass up to a coronavirus germ

Why clinical trials during disease outbreaks may need a new approach

Scientists around the world are racing to develop vaccines and treatments for the novel coronavirus, while hoping to avoid mistakes made during the West African Ebola epidemic, in which incomplete studies led to inconclusive results.

3D rendering of antibodies activated by vaccine and drugs like hydroxychloroquine attacking viruses inside the human body.

New trial will evaluate hydroxychloroquine to treat and prevent COVID-19

A new trial led by the Perelman School of Medicine will evaluate whether the drug hydroxychloroquine can benefit people infected with COVID-19 and whether taking the drug preventatively may help people avoid infection altogether.

David Roos taking a selfie while teaching a class online, with scientific materials on the screen behind him

A quick pivot turns an infectious disease class into timely education

Students in David Roos’ upper-level biology course had been studying pandemics. Now they get to learn in real time how public health scientists attempt to understand COVID-19.

What’s ‘essential,’ anyway? Roses, guns, manicures, marijuana—it all depends on who’s deciding

Robert Inman of the Wharton School spoke about how coronavirus-related restrictions vary by region. “In many ways, it is a virtue and a tribute to the way we make decisions about public safety on a local level,” he said. “Implementation is going to vary community to community based on geography and how people live their lives.”

Philly nurse practitioner: We tried to order 300 COVID-19 tests. We got five

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.

NOT REAL NEWS: False coronavirus claims and phony remedies

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.”

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.”

Coronavirus latest: ‘Youth is not protection against severe disease,’ Penn researchers warn at COVID-19 symposium

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.

Racing to deliver a vaccine to the masses

While the world works to flatten the curve, scientists at Penn and Wistar hope to deliver the COVID-19 pandemic’s silver bullet: a vaccine that effectively protects people from infection.

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