AI + COVID-19 : Case Study in the Treatment of Future Pandemics Dynamic Briefing Generated 03 March 2021 for Marco Antonio Gonzalez
AI + COVID-19 : Case Study in the Treatment of Future Pandemics Last review on Wed 03 March 2021
About This dynamic briefing draws on the collective intelligence of the Forum network to explore the key trends, interconnections and interdependencies between industry, regional and global issues. In the briefing, you will find a visual representation of this topic (Transformation Map – interactive version available online via intelligence.weforum.org ), an overview and the key trends affecting it, along with summaries and links to the latest research and analysis on each of the trends. Briefings for countries also include the relevant data from the Forum’s benchmarking indices. The content is continuously updated with the latest thinking of leaders and experts from across the Forum network, and with insights from Forum meetings, projects communities and activities.
2 AI + COVID-19 : Case Study in the Treatment of Future Pandemics Briefing, March 2021
Executive summary The genesis, the geographic spread, the virus and the diseases that it originates, the diagnosis and testing, the treatment of the disease in the daily clinic, the management of the supply chain, the development of vaccines and their distribution are the context. in which Artificial Intelligence can help us to better understand the COVID-19 Pandemic (SARS-CoV-2) and create a model for the globalized treatment of future pandemics.
1. Diagnostic Testing, Vaccines and Therapeutics COVID-19 vaccines have been successfully developed at a remarkable pace.
2. Pandemic Supply Chain Management The supply of essential medicines and medical equipment was severely disrupted by COVID-19, resulting in shortages.
3. AI and COVID-19 The pandemic may lead to a greater appreciation of the value of human interaction.
4. Clinical Practice An expanding trove of data and research is shaping the response to COVID-19.
5. Developing and Distributing Vaccines Issues related to an equitable distribution to the most vulnerable will likely become more prominent.
6. The Virus and the Disease SARS-CoV-2 was detected in late 2019, and the spread of COVID-19 soon followed.
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Diagnostic Testing, Vaccines and Therapeutics COVID-19 vaccines have been successfully developed at a remarkable pace COVID-19 lockdowns have helped many countries and regions keep its spread under control (while subsequently easing those measures has had the opposite effect). However, this has had tremendous economic and social costs - and is unsustainable for the long-term. More radical ways to fight the virus are therefore now coming to the fore, including vaccines and therapeutics. The quality of information has largely determined the success (or failure) of containing the disease; speedy and correct diagnosis is the first step towards efficiently and effectively curbing its spread. Testing has therefore been crucial for those countries that have been relatively successful in this regard. A variety of diagnostic kits are being endorsed by different governments to encourage aggressive testing, though accuracy and affordability remain challenges. While mass testing helped quickly contain the outbreak in South Korea, in countries like the US testing has been limited. Meanwhile vaccine development has progressed at relatively breakneck speed with the first doses being administered before the end of 2020, a timetable that few experts felt comfortable predicting not long ago. Vaccine research and development is time consuming, and requires three phases of clinical trials before something can be made publicly available. By April 2020, the World Health Organization had published a statement on behalf of a group of scientists, physicians, funders, and manufacturers aiming to speed the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine, which pledged to develop something as rapidly as possible. Still, most experts believed effective vaccines would not be offered to the public before 2021. Their ultimate availability depends largely on economics, however, and distribution to and affordability for marginalized groups are likely to remain challenges. Effective therapeutics will still therefore be crucial; investigation and development have been undertaken on a range of therapies designed to help treat COVID-19 patients. Remdesivir, a drug originally designed to fight the Ebola virus, has demonstrated some ability to speed up recovery time for these patients. The COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, a philanthropic initiative, has coordinated therapeutics efforts, though a cautious approach is necessary. This was illustrated by hydroxychloroquine, a malarial drug that was initially endorsed though studies were later published that dismissed its value. Related insight areas: Entrepreneurship, Global Health, Future of Media, Entertainment and Sport, Global Governance, Precision Medicine, Agile Governance, COVID-19, Future of Health and Healthcare, Vaccination, Biotechnology
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Latest knowledge Harvard Kennedy School – Journalist’s Resource
The Conversation
Covering criminal courts amid COVID19: 6 tips for journalists
How COVID-19 has changed the way we give birth
02 March 2021
01 March 2021
Criminal justice experts offer journalists six tips for covering changes U.S. courts are making to keep the public safe while criminal cases move forward during the coronavirus crisis. The post Covering criminal courts amid COVID-19: 6 tips for journalists appeared first on The Journalist's Resource .
COVID-19 has changed how we give birth, where we give birth, and who is present when we give birth. The effects of these changes are yet to be fully understood, and while the experience of childbearing has become more difficult in many ways during the pandemic, there may also be some benefits in the long term. Childbirth is a time when women can feel particularly vulnerable. They can find comfort in having capable and reassuring figures to provide them with support and motivation, and never more so than when labour takes a long time or is more complicated than usual. Midwives play a key role in this, but often their workload is such that they cannot always offer the level of one-to-one personal contact an expectant woman may require.
The Diplomat
Chinese Vaccines Sweep Much of the World, Despite Concerns 02 March 2021 The plane laden with vaccines had just rolled to a stop at Santiago’s airport in late January, and Chile’s president, Sebastián Piñera, was beaming. “Today,” he said, “is a day of joy, emotion and hope.” The source of that hope: China – a country that Chile and dozens of other nations are depending on to help rescue them from the COVID-19 pandemic.
ProPublica
How Inequity Gets Built Into America’s Vaccination System 01 March 2021
RAND Corporation
Racial Differences in End-of-Life Care Quality Between Asian Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites in San Francisco Bay Area
People eligible for the coronavirus vaccine tell us they are running up against barriers that are designed into the very systems meant to serve those most at risk of dying of the disease. We plan to continue tracking these roadblocks.
02 March 2021
Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
What Does Remote Work Mean for Middle Managers?
Little is known about end-of-life care experiences of Asian Americans and gaps in end-of-life care quality between Asians and non-Hispanic whites. Compare the perceptions of next-of-kin of Asian and non-Hispanic white decedents on end-of-life care quality. Setting/Subjects Population-based sample of 108 Asian and 414 non-Hispanic white bereaved family members or close friends of adult, nontraumatic deaths in the San Francisco Bay area in 2018. Of the 623 surveys (weighted n = 6513), 108 (weighted percentage = 17.6%) were from caregivers of Asian decedents.
01 March 2021 Middle management was already the corporate scapegoat of choice before the COVID-19 pandemic. Will work-from-home policies make middle managers unnecessary or more critical than ever? asks James Heskett. The Diplomat
Japan’s Vaccine Strategy 26 February 2021 COVID-19 is a once-in-a-century pandemic that has infected more than 110 million people worldwide and caused more than 2.4 million deaths. Many countries have implemented strict lockdowns to try to contain the infection, but the virus keeps mutating and infections persist. In this situation, vaccines are the only hope. The strategy of creating herd immunity through vaccination, bringing infections under control by reducing the effective reproduction number (R number) to below 1, is currently considered to be the most effective countermeasure against COVID-19.
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Pandemic Supply Chain Management The supply of essential medicines and medical equipment was severely disrupted by COVID-19, resulting in shortages The supplies essential for fighting a pandemic rely on complex global value chains, where raw materials are sourced from one location, processed and manufactured in another, and distributed in yet another. A disruption of this process in one direction can result in disruption in the other. The reduced mobility of goods caused by COVID-19-related lockdowns and travel restrictions, limited shipping options, and export restrictions imposed by governments intended to boost domestic supply have caused delays, interruptions, and shortages. Developing countries, smaller economies, and countries with limited manufacturing capacities are especially vulnerable to supply chain shocks. Raw materials for medicines and the production of personal protective equipment are usually limited to a few hubs such as China, which represented 28% of the global manufacturing output in 2018 (valued at $4 trillion), according to data published by the United Nations Statistics Division. While it is traditionally the world’s manufacturing hub, the shipping companies that bring goods from China to the rest of the world have drastically reduced their number of vessels in operation due to a pandemic-related decrease in demand, thereby cutting off distribution channels. This has drastically reduced the global supply of products, and forced countries to compete against one another to procure those that are particularly scarce. A survey conducted in April in the US showed that among 978 health and medical facilities, 8.4% had no supply remaining of face shields, 34% had no thermometers, and 19% had no gowns left. Nearly all had no supplies remaining of at least one form of personal protective equipment. Already-difficult international trade relations have been worsened by the pandemic, and supply chain management and distribution is a challenge for both global and regional businesses. It requires greater international cooperation, procurement transparency, the removal of trade barriers, diversified supply chains, increased resilience, and the efficient management of distribution portals. Technology advancements have been reshaping the way goods are shipped and delivered, and can help address COVID-19-related challenges. Innovation in terms of warehousing, such as robotization (automation) and the use of augmented reality, are increasing the speed, efficiency, and accuracy of order picking operations, for example, and will be key aspects of supply chain management long into the future. Related insight areas: Geo-economics, Future of Consumption, China, Advanced Manufacturing and Production, Healthcare Delivery, Infrastructure, Geopolitics, United States, COVID-19, International Trade and Investment, Supply Chain and Transport, Artificial Intelligence, Global Governance, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Vaccination
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Latest knowledge Science Daily
Southern Voice
Nanoparticle-delivered COVID-19 vaccine candidate shows promise in preclinical studies
India’s COVID-19 vaccine roll-out in a nutshell 01 March 2021
02 March 2021 The aim is to cover up to 20% of the most vulnerable population by the targeted date of June 2021 and carry out coordinated and equitable deployments.
Researchers have developed a promising new COVID-19 vaccine candidate that utilizes nanotechnology and has shown strong efficacy in preclinical disease models.
Niskanen Center
Op-Ed: Refill America's reservoir of goodwill with vaccine know-how Niskanen Center
London School of Economics and Political Science
The pandemic against the poor: Mexico City and COVID-19
26 February 2021
02 March 2021 To refill the United States’ “reservoir of goodwill” which has been draining since the end of the Cold War and left empty by the Trump Administration, the Biden Administration must do more.
In Mexico City, COVID-19 has spread in line with existing patterns of spatial segregation and inequalities. While the poorest neighbourhoods have been the hardest hit, many of the wealthiest have seen very few cases, writes Máximo Ernesto Jaramillo Molina (INDESIG and Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity). • Disponible también en español In January, Reuters reported that Mexico … Continued.
Asian Development Bank
COVID-19 and Public–Private Partnerships in Asia and the Pacific: Guidance Note 26 February 2021
Project Syndicate
The COVID Bubble
COVID-19AND AND COVID-19 PUBLIC-PRIVATE PUBLIC– PRIVATEPARTNERSHIPS PARTNERSHIPS IN ASIA ASIAAND ANDTHE THEPACIFIC PACIFIC GUIDANCE NOTE GUIDANCE NOTE DECEMBER 2020 FEBRUARY 2021 ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK COVID-19 AND PUBLIC– PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC GUIDANCE NOTE FEBRUARY 2021 ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO) © 2021 Asian Development Bank 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City, 1550 Metro Manila, Philippines Tel +63 2 8632 4444; Fax +63 2 8636 2444 www.adb.org Some rights reserved. Published in 2021. ISBN 978-92-9262-585-6 (print); 978-92-9262-586-3 (electronic); 978-92-9262-587-0 (ebook) Publication Stock No.
02 March 2021 With equity markets reaching new heights at a time of rising income and wealth inequality, it should be obvious that today's market mania will end in tears, reproducing the economic injustices of the 2008 crash. For all of the talk of supporting households, it is Main Street that will suffer most when the music stops. Bruegel
The impact of COVID-19 on the Internal Market 01 March 2021 This study was prepared for the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO). The study is available on the European Parliament’s online database, ‘ ThinkTank ‘. Copyright remains with the European Parliament at all times. This study assesses the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the Internal Market and consumer protection, including the impact of measures introduced at national and EU level to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic. What further measures should be considered in order to reinforce the resilience of the EU’s Internal Market in the face of future crises?.
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AI and COVID-19 The pandemic may lead to a greater appreciation of the value of human interaction COVID-19 has had contradictory effects on artificial intelligence. The pandemic has highlighted the unusual nature of AI as both a cutting-edge technology, and one that relies on the status quo, for example. Innovative AI systems have played a role in addressing the health crisis by tracking its spread, identifying potential drug therapies, and sifting through thousands of published papers on the topic for insights. At the same time, the pandemic poses fundamental challenges to AI systems. The version of AI now in common use, machine learning, relies on historical training data and assumes that the patterns identified in that data are still relevant. However, during unprecedented situations, this type of assumption can be problematic. Approaches to addressing this problem include using human expertise to recognize the places where the underlying rules of the process still apply, and collecting new training data that more accurately reflect the changed conditions. As the pandemic lingers, we should be able to accumulate enough real-world examples of its impact to underpin AI systems that can do things like detect COVID-19 in lung scans, or automatically filter out harmful misinformation about the pandemic. However, we must not push aside the principles that govern AI use in our rush to address the crisis. Contact tracing apps, for example, have raised concerns about the collection of sensitive personal health and location data, and while it may be tempting to make exceptions during a crisis it may prove challenging to close these doors once they are opened. There has also been growing concern that the pandemic will accelerate the replacement of human workers with AI. While we might expect greater automation in situations where safety and distancing measures for a workplace are costly or infeasible, high levels of pandemic-related unemployment may actually reduce the cost of human labour and therefore bolster hiring in other areas. AI is still a relatively new technology, and its adoption requires investment and risk that companies in a crisis mode may not be ready for. And, many of the jobs most affected by the pandemic require face-to-face human interaction - the skill AI is least able to learn. It is possible that the pandemic will therefore lead to a greater appreciation of the value of human interaction, and new ideas about how to preserve it in the future. Related insight areas: Future of Media, Entertainment and Sport, Global Health, Inclusive Design, Fourth Industrial Revolution, Internet of Things, COVID-19, Workforce and Employment, Digital Identity, Corporate Governance, Infrastructure, Healthcare Delivery, Digital Economy and New Value Creation, Digital Communications
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Latest knowledge VoxEU
University of St. Gallen
AI and jobs: Evidence from US vacancies
Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy and the Datafied Citizen
03 March 2021
01 March 2021
As artificial intelligence technologies improve rapidly, there is increasing interest in the effects on workers. This column uses data on skill requirements in US vacancies posted since 2010 to examine the impact of artificial intelligence on the US labour market. While the estimates suggest that AI has started to replace workers in certain tasks, it does not yet seem to be having effects on the aggregate labour market.
HSG professor Veronica Barassi argues in her latest MIT Press book that if we want to understand the impact of AI for our society, we need to look at how citizens are being datafied from before birth. Harvard Kennedy School - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
“Full Remote”
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania - Knowledge@Wharton
26 February 2021
How Artificial Intelligence Can Slow the Spread of COVID-19
This is a personal reflection essay. If you’re interested in more information about my actual TAPP Fellowship project Sexual Censorship on Social Media - check out my blog or instagram . “Can I defer until next year?” I asked, when the first email came through saying the inaugural year of the TAPP fellowship might be full remote. I’ve made several big career decisions based primarily off the fact that I enjoy interacting with other people in person: I switched from engineering to product management, and later hauled myself across the country to take a government job that required you to be onsite. I never would have applied for a fellowship program that was full remote.
02 March 2021 A new machine-learning approach to COVID-19 testing that was developed by Wharton’s Hamsa Bastani and other experts has produced encouraging results in Greece by identifying more asymptomatic, infected travelers than what conventional random testing would have achieved. London School of Economics and Political Science
Socially distanced networks – 5 Reasons PhD students should engage with social media now
Harvard Kennedy School - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
On Talking about AVs (as Robots)……
02 March 2021
26 February 2021 Peer support, finding a place within academia, staying up to date with the latest research, communicating research to wider audiences and navigating life after PhD. Ema Talam and Jon Fairburn outline five ways in which social media, and in particular Twitter, can make all the difference to PhD research at a time when regular academic … Continued.
Since I started working on policy for automated vehicles (AVs) in 2017, I have been struck by how difficult it is to talk about the role of robots in society. Not only does the lack of a lexicon inhibit the development of universal concepts, the lack of a conceptual framework prevents society from assessing how the development and use of robots in society should be guided. Today in tech policy conversations, it is easy for phrases like “artificial intelligence” and “machine learning” to be used at the drop of a hat, but the actual meaning usually has to be teased out and is context specific.
Center for Global Development
Remembering Benno Ndulu 01 March 2021 Commentary & Analysis What Will Automation and Artificial Intelligence Mean for Comparative Advantage and Supply Chains in the Developing World? Benno was a towering intellect and a forceful policymaker. As Governor of the Bank of Tanzania, he oversaw a decade of growth and stability, growth that was in part based on reforms he’d helped design and implement as a professor and at the World Bank. He was instrumental in regulatory reforms that enabled the rapid rollout of mobile money, a space where Tanzania has become a leader.
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Clinical Practice An expanding trove of data and research is shaping the response to COVID-19 As the COVID-19 crisis has unfolded, related research efforts and front-line experience have been expanded and refined. As a result, information and guidelines conveyed to the public have evolved significantly in the midst of a public health emergency, and rules and prescribed protocol have come together in a patchwork manner. As of July 2020, new research was still emerging on the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. If established and recognized internationally, this research may impact public guidance - as researchers arguing for the significance of aerosols ask public authorities to implement measures specifically to reduce this route of transmission. This could include recommendations against air re-circulation in buildings, and against overcrowding. New standards for effective ventilation and potentially higherperforming air systems - or the use of ultraviolet light - might be needed. Evidence-based guidelines and protocols for clinical staff are essential for ensuring the appropriate protection of COVID-19 patients, for helping people take the right preventive measures, and for mitigating the risks faced by frontline workers. However, the speedy dissemination of accurate guidelines and useful tools has been a challenge. With a significant number of students and trainees fast-tracking into the healthcare workforce to handle the increased workload, the appropriate training of medical practitioners and volunteers including doctors and nurses - is essential. Providing the right tools for clinical workers including personal protective equipment, leveraging virtual and digital tools, and establishing guidance for advising patients (both before and after visits) can go a long way towards effectively tackling COVID-19. Given the unprecedented nature and rapid rate of infection of this disease, frontline workers have had limited access to related academic and scientific information that has been through traditional peer review. In response, Frontiers, an open access publisher and open science platform pioneering innovative peer review models, claims to have shortened the average time from the submission of a scientific article to a final decision on it to 90 days. Still, the accelerated timeline of the outbreak has created an urgent need to share experiences from the frontlines, in place of potentially limited scientific literature - in order to help tailor the right guidelines for dealing with the specific nature and epidemiology of COVID-19. Related insight areas: Innovation, Public Finance and Social Protection, Healthcare Delivery, Future of Health and Healthcare, Precision Medicine, Workforce and Employment, Global Health, Biotechnology, Agile Governance, COVID-19, Education and Skills
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Latest knowledge Project Syndicate
RAND Corporation
The Green Shoots of COVID Solidarity
Hospice Care Experiences Among Cancer Patients and Their Caregivers
02 March 2021
26 February 2021 Rich-country governments must now donate COVID-19 vaccines immediately to vulnerable countries, contribute more to international initiatives to ensure a genuinely global rollout, and work with pharmaceutical firms to deliver more transparent, non-exclusive licensing deals. Only this level of solidarity can restore global growth.
Opportunities exist to improve hospice care for symptom palliation and training for caregivers when their family members are at home or in an ALF setting. Efforts to improve care for cancer patients in the NH and ALF setting are especially needed.
RAND Corporation
Harvard Kennedy School - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Quality Measurement of Serious Illness Communication
Interoperability: Too Narrow a Frame For Public Health
02 March 2021
26 February 2021 Patients, clinicians, and health systems increasingly align around the importance of high-quality communication in serious illness. We offer recommendations to advance serious illness communication quality measurement.
Since the inauguration, the Biden administration has shined a spotlight on US public health systems, highlighting the urgent need to re-center science in the COVID-19 response , attend to health equity , and invest in modernizing federal, state, and local public health data infrastructures .
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Remaking the Post-COVID World 01 March 2021 The pandemic offers a chance to reset the direction of technology in a way that encourages growth and generates jobs. Project Syndicate
Who’s Right on Inflation? 01 March 2021 As in the 1970s, a severe economic shock has forced governments to pursue massive fiscal and monetary expansion, thereby sowing fears of future inflation. But not all shocks are the same, and the key question now is whether we can be confident that the current state of exception will end. Nature
J&J's single-dose COVID vaccine raises hopes for faster rollout 01 March 2021 US regulators have authorized Johnson & Johnson's vaccine — which does not require a booster shot, and could simplify the logistics of mass vaccination.
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Developing and Distributing Vaccines Issues related to an equitable distribution to the most vulnerable will likely become more prominent When COVID-19 began spreading, the global health community and pharmaceutical industry launched a sweeping effort to identify, develop, and manufacture a vaccine. Safe, effective, widely-distributed and widely-administered vaccines will be key for a potential return to day-to-day normalcy. As with any new disease, there was no vaccine for COVID-19 when it emerged and despite the SARS and MERS epidemics, and warnings about the pandemic potential of a novel coronavirus, the work on vaccines had to start from scratch. Vaccines generally require years to develop and obtain approval, though the broad push for a COVID-19 vaccine has been relatively rapid. The testing and approval process is always critical, and as of late November 2020 there were 55 coronavirus vaccines in clinical trials on humans, and 13 had reached the final stage of testing. Meanwhile three vaccines had shown positive results from latestage trials, including two based on mRNA technology and one using a viral vector. The two mRNA vaccines are made by BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna. The other, developed by Oxford and AstraZeneca, does not require freezer storage - which could make its storage and transport easier, and boost global accessibility. It is hoped that initial vaccines might become available for distribution as early as January 2021, with more widespread vaccination potentially becoming available at some point in the first part of the year. Operational considerations for the distribution of vaccines and their administration will be critical. Early messaging to the public about the safety of vaccination will also be necessary in order to build confidence; this is particularly crucial for ensuring that enough of the population is vaccinated to reach sufficient levels of protection. Early preparation will be crucial, in order to adequately support the practical requirements of distributing vaccines once available particularly since it is likely that more than one dose (and potentially very-low temperature storage) will be required. Ensuring auxiliary supplies are available like syringes and bandages will also be key as supply chains may be strained. Public officials had begun planning for prioritizing specific populations in many places by early December 2020, given that initial supplies will likely be limited. Issues around equitable distribution to those most in need will be prominent - and a system to track administered vaccines, especially if more than one dose is required, will be imperative. Related insight areas: Vaccination, Inclusive Design, Future of Health and Healthcare, Insurance, Global Governance, Healthcare Delivery, Human Rights, Biotechnology, Innovation, Justice and Law, Future of Media, Entertainment and Sport, Global Health
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Latest knowledge Imperial College London
RAND Corporation
More transmissible and evasive SARSCoV-2 variant growing rapidly in Brazil
What Contributes to COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Black Communities, and How Can It Be Addressed?
02 March 2021 The P.1 lineage of the SARS-CoV-2 variant first observed in Brazil has driven a second wave of infections even in a region hit hard by the first wave. The findings, which may point to risk of re-infection or increased transmissibility, come from researchers at the University of São Paulo in collaboration with Imperial College London and the University of Oxford. P.1 lineage around the world Despite very high infection rates in the Amazon region, a second wave of infection hit in Manaus, Brazil between December 2020 and January 2021. Genomic sequencing of clinical samples from Manaus found that this second wave was associated with the emergence and rapid spread of a new Variant of Concern (VOC), the P.1 lineage.
01 March 2021 Recent polls show that Black Americans are less willing than Americans of other races or ethnicities to be vaccinated for COVID-19. RAND researchers surveyed Black Americans to better understand the drivers of such hesitancy. Center for Global Development
Supporting COVID-19 Recovery and Improving Health Outcomes: The Case for Health Taxes 01 March 2021 This blog and the accompanying CGD Policy Brief are a follow-up to the 2019 “Health Taxes Save Lives” report by the Task Force on Fiscal Policy for Health co-chaired by Michael Bloomberg and Lawrence Summers.
Brookings
TRACE-STL: Stemming a fourth wave at the local level 01 March 2021
Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)
The Coronavirus Pandemic: Global Challenges Require Global Cooperation
Ross Hammond and Matt Kasman describe the COVID-19 policy support decision tool they developed with the St. Louis Department of Health, including it's potential utility for other state and local governments.
25 February 2021
The Conversation
The UK–Russia Security Dialogue addresses the ‘new normal’ of international health policy. Download the Article (PDF) This article outlines the main findings of the UK–Russia Security Dialogue on ‘Global Health and Security’ organised by RUSI and the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) in December 2020. It was the first time the Dialogue had addressed public health issues: both parties found it appropriate and timely, as the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted that health threats are a clear and present security risk for all countries. The pandemic has tested the capabilities of the international community to tackle new universal challenges, both globally and locally.
Poor vaccine take-up in BAME communities is not just down to hesitancy 01 March 2021 Stories about vaccine hesitancy in various communities described as Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) have led public figures to appeal to this supposedly reluctant group through video campaigns. Yet, in campaigns to address vaccine hesitancy, the relevance of the legacy of discrimination that many of these communities face is being ignored. This is in spite of glaring issues such as historical concerns about inadequate and unethical medical treatment towards members of some of these communities. What is driving some in these groups to ask legitimate questions about the vaccine before agreeing to take it isn’t necessarily due to vaccine hesitancy. In many cases, it could be more complex.
13 AI + COVID-19 : Case Study in the Treatment of Future Pandemics Briefing, March 2021
The Virus and the Disease SARS-CoV-2 was detected in late 2019, and the spread of COVID-19 soon followed Not long after it was first detected in late 2019, the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 was having an overwhelming global impact. Coronaviruses are a class of respiratory viruses that have caused everything from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). Humans are infected by exposure to the virus in respiratory liquid particles, from tiny aerosols less than 0.0005 centimetres in size to larger droplets. These can be spread when an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, speaks, or even just breathes heavily (current evidence indicates that the primary form of transmission is through respiratory droplets between people in close contact). Aerosols may cause transmission particularly in crowded and confined settings with inadequate ventilation, where people remain for extended periods of time or engage in activities more likely to result in exposure. In addition, infected people may transmit the virus to surfaces - which can then infect others if they touch the same contaminated surface and then touch their eyes, nose, and mouth without first washing their hands. In any case, the virus is highly contagious; on average, each infection will infect more than two additional people. This rate of additional infections depends heavily on behaviour. Super-spreading events, where one infected person transmits the virus to many more people than is average, have been a significant driver of the disease caused by the virus: COVID-19. The disease causes a wide range of clinical symptoms including shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, fever, malaise, and loss of sense of taste or smell. Symptoms typically begin within a week of exposure, but may take up to 14 days to appear. The virus can be transmitted in the pre-symptomatic stage before people know they are infected; current evidence suggests that about 20% of infected individuals will not experience identifiable symptoms but may still be able to transmit the virus to others. People who are even potentially exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection should quarantine for two weeks. If symptoms do appear, one will typically no longer be able to transmit to others 10 days after symptoms resolve. Evidence regarding impacts that linger after the disease is still being gathered - though some people may have persistent issues (“long Covid”) including widespread organ damage (particularly to the lungs), lasting cognitive impairment, and severe fatigue. Related insight areas: Future of Media, Entertainment and Sport, Mental Health, Behavioural Sciences, Public Finance and Social Protection, Global Health, Global Governance, Agile Governance, Retail, Consumer Goods and Lifestyle, Healthcare Delivery, Vaccination, Values, Ageing
14 AI + COVID-19 : Case Study in the Treatment of Future Pandemics Briefing, March 2021
Latest knowledge Observer Research Foundation
Chatham House
The efficacy of COVID19 vaccines is linked to good nutrition
Fiscal Policy and the Post-COVID-19 Recovery
01 March 2021
01 March 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought uncertainties and challenges to keep ourselves and our families protected and healthy, both physically and mentally. As the vaccine drive is being rolled out, policy makers should focus on initiatives that can improve the efficacy of the vaccine for the common man.
Although the massive wave of debt-financed spending undertaken by governments over the past year has raised legitimate questions about rising public debt and future inflationary pressures, the paper argues that the right course is to maintain support for economies until the recovery is entrenched. In particular, the withdrawal of emergency measures should be calibrated to the revival in private sector demand, with public investment used as a ‘platform’ for longterm economic modernization.
World Health Organization
COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP)
Scientific American
01 March 2021
The COVID Zoom Boom Is Reshaping Sign Language
WHO is issuing the COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) for 2021 and accompanying documents as a package aimed at guiding the coordinated action that we must take at national, regional, and global levels to overcome the ongoing challenges in the response to COVID-19, address inequities, and plot a course out of the pandemic. Over the past year, much has been achieved by national authorities and communities with the support of WHO, donors and partners, and an unprecedented effort by the scientific community and the private sector. The Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan 2021 (SPRP2021) builds on what we have learned about the virus and our collective response over the course of 2020, and translates that knowledge into strategic actions.
26 February 2021 People who use American Sign Language to communicate are no strangers to video chatting. The technology—which has been around since 1927, when AT&T experimented with the first rudimentary videophones —allows deaf people to converse with signs over the airwaves. After the coronavirus pandemic began confining people to their homes early last year, the use of platforms such as zoom, microsoft teams and google meet exploded. This increased reliance on videoconferencing has inevitably transformed the way deaf people communicate. One adaptation arises as a result of a video meeting’s limited frame size.
World Health Organization
Observer Research Foundation
Dr Tedros opening remarks: WHO-UN DESA Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Mortality Assessment
Addressing COVID19 and vaccinerelated misinformation 24 February 2021
01 March 2021 On 25 March 2020, India entered the world’s largest nationwide lockdown—thanks to COVID-19. Eleven months and almost 11 million cases later, India is now one of the largest global suppliers of COVID-19 vaccines. While India is earning praise for gifting indigenously manufactured vaccines to low and middle-income countries (LMIC), we still face an uphill task […].
The WHO - UN DESA Technical Advisory Group on COVID19 Mortality Assessment acts as an advisory body to both WHO and UNDESA on COVID-19 mortality assessment. The TAG will advise and support efforts to assist WHO and UN Member States to obtain accurate estimates of the number of deaths attributable to the direct and indirect impacts of the pandemic. The TAG comprises a global network of experts from multidisciplinary backgrounds, including epidemiologists, data scientists and analysts, statisticians, demographers, national government officers, academics, and policy makers. The work of the TAG will contribute to future editions of the World Health Statistics and World Populations Prospects reports, as well as supporting vital global efforts towards strengthening health information systems.
15 AI + COVID-19 : Case Study in the Treatment of Future Pandemics Briefing, March 2021
References 1. Diagnostic Testing, Vaccines and Therapeutics
4. Clinical Practice
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2. Pandemic Supply Chain Management
5. Developing and Distributing Vaccines
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Acknowledgements Cover and selected images throughout supplied by Reuters. Some URLs have been shortened for readability. Please follow the URL given to visit the source of the article. A full URL can be provided on request.
16 AI + COVID-19 : Case Study in the Treatment of Future Pandemics Briefing, March 2021
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17 AI + COVID-19 : Case Study in the Treatment of Future Pandemics Briefing, March 2021
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