Lessons from Past Outbreaks Could Help Fight the Coronavirus Pandemic

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March 23, 2020

Dear Reader, The novel coronavirus pandemic is now the world's top priority, according to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. All resources will be directed toward tackling the crisis. This means climate change will be put on the back burner, for now. Also in today's news, experts are studying past outbreaks to better estimate the trajectory of COVID-19 and identify the best ways to help "flatten the curve. The 1918 flu pandemic and 2002–2003 SARS outbreak suggest intense measures such as social distancing are the most effective.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Public Health Lessons from Past Outbreaks Could Help Fight the Coronavirus Pandemic The 1918 influenza pandemic and 2002–2003 SARS outbreak suggest social distancing measures, communication and international cooperation are the most effective methods to slow COVID-19 By Sara Goudarzi

Medical & Biotech Fast, Portable Tests Come Online to Curb Coronavirus Pandemic Testing kits delivered by courier and digital tools combine to battle the COVID-19 outbreak By Cormac Sheridan,Nature magazine

Public Health Want to Know if a New Drug Crisis Is Emerging? Check the wastewater By Bryce Pardo,Debra Knopman

Public Health U.N. Shifts from Climate Change to Coronavirus Secretary-General António Guterres still urged countries not to lose sight of the global warming challenge By Nathanial Gronewold,E&E News

Behavior & Society When It's Safer to Stay Apart My father is an infectious disease physician in New York City. He needs to do his job, so for our own safety, he can no longer live with the family By Jordan Salama

Medicine Has Telemedicine's Day Finally Come? With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote medical consultation seems like a no-brainer—but it's not that simple

Medicine A Breakthrough in Genetic Medicine for Rare Diseases A long-disdained therapy that targets RNA is suddenly achieving spectacular success By Lydia Denworth

FROM THE STORE Ask the Experts: Human Body and Mind The third eBook in our Ask the Experts series, Human Body and Mind tackles questions about our own strange and mysterious biology, from how we evolved to exist this way to feats of body and mind.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY "There is a need for a larger more coordinated multilateral response, and the governments that would be working together right now to lead on this--the U.S., China, Japan, European countries--are focused more on closing borders than on collaborating." Martin Edwards, Professor of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University

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