Blocking Covid-19 | | | In hopes of developing a treatment for Covid-19, a team of chemists has designed a drug candidate that may block coronaviruses’ ability to enter human cells. It binds to the protein that the viruses use to enter cells, potentially disarming it. Full story via MIT News → |
MIT initiates mass manufacture of disposable face shields for Covid-19 response A team from MIT has designed disposable face shields that can be mass produced quickly to address hospitals’ needs nationwide. Full story via MIT News → | |
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The data speak: Stronger pandemic response yields better economic recovery A study of the 1918 flu pandemic shows U.S. cities that responded more aggressively in health terms also had better economic rebounds. Full story via MIT News → | |
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Rolling out remote learning | In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, MIT enters a new mode for teaching and learning. Full story via MIT News → | |
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The 2020 U.S. census: Time to make it count Amid disruptions caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, the MIT community has an important role to play in the 2020 census. Full story via MIT News → |
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MIT Professional Education conducts first all-virtual class in the wake of Covid-19 | Abel Sanchez discovers three major takeaways for translating on-the-ground courses to online virtual formats. Full story via MIT News → | |
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A team of MIT chemists may have designed a drug candidate that can block the coronavirus // Fast Company | MIT researchers have developed a potential new drug candidate that “can bind to the viral protein that the coronavirus uses to enter human cells, potentially disarming it.” Full story via Fast Company → |
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Shutting down the economy during a pandemic may be the best way to protect the economy // Quartz | A study co-authored by Assistant Professor Emil Verner finds “aggressive social distancing measures, while extremely disruptive to commerce in the near term, can result in faster economic growth when the disease subsides.” Full story via Quartz → |
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A possible path to protect our economy and hospitals from the coronavirus // The Boston Globe “In the United States, there’s more we can and should do to focus on high-risk patients and high-risk clusters,” write professors Simon Johnson and Retsef Levi. “It’s essential we pursue these strategies immediately to avoid choosing between collapsing our economy or our health care system — and the loss of life that would entail.” Full story via The Boston Globe → |
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Lessons from the Spanish flu: Social distancing can be good for the economy // The Economist | Researchers from MIT and the Federal Reserve analyzed data from the 1918 flu pandemic and found “the notion that reducing deaths from a pandemic necessarily hurts the economy is false.” Full story via The Economist → |
| | While much of the MIT campus is quiet, MIT Mail Services has seen a steady stream of activity as it acts as the staging and sorting area for thousands of donated units of personal protective equipment (PPE) from across campus. By March 30 more than 50 departments, labs, and centers — as well as individual community members — have responded to a call to donate extra, unopened PPE to support area hospitals and front-line health care workers in need. MIT labs that may be able to help in the collection of additional PPE are encouraged to email donate-ppe@mit.edu for more information. Full story via MIT News → | 1,300,000 | Minutes of Zoom meetings that MIT community members collectively participated in on March 30, the Institute’s first official day of virtual learning Learn more via IS&T → | |