Dear Researchers and Scholars around the world,
Our planet is experiencing COVID-19, an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. We want you to be safe and informed. Because most of you are the leaders of your community, we appreciate what you have been doing to keep your community safe. Please know that we are with you during this difficult time.
According to the World Health Organization, the best way to prevent and slow down transmission is to be well informed about the COVID-19 virus, the disease it causes and how it spreads. Protect yourself and others from infection by washing your hands or using an alcohol-based rub frequently and not touching your face.
The COVID-19 virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes, so it’s important that you also practice respiratory etiquette (for example, by coughing into a flexed elbow).
At this time, there are no specific vaccines or treatments for COVID-19. However, there are many ongoing clinical trials evaluating potential treatments. WHO will continue to provide updated information as soon as clinical findings become available.
This is no time to blame each other or politicize the issue. Rather, this is time to collaborate across the borders to find a common solution to this public health crisis. We salute the researchers, doctors, nurses, and other medical and public health professionals combating this invisible enemy. As researchers and scholars, we all have a responsibility to stay informed and keep our people safe. We are relying on the following sources of information to do so.
https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1
Please do not forget to read this coverage by our STAR leader Margarite Dennis in our NEXT column.
You can also check out the special message by Dr. Sanjeeb Sapkota, our VP of Global Public Health.
If you are a higher education leader, you may want to read this article in Inside HigherEd by Susan Resneck Pierce. The author advises presidents and boards on how they should respond to the myriad challenges and dislocations caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Please do not forget to check out our webinar series where we discuss various educational and economic issues impacting our world.
If you are interested in completing a short course on strategic preparedness for the novel coronavirus from the World Health Organization, please follow this link:
https://openwho.org/courses/UNCT-COVID19-preparedness-and-response-EN