key: cord-0810726-tujywpz5
authors: Imperiale, Michael J.
title: Pandemics and People
date: 2020-05-13
journal: mSphere
DOI: 10.1128/msphere.00410-20
sha: 9a8e02332a0625499ec36d85e2cef5fe60fbe9b0
doc_id: 810726
cord_uid: tujywpz5

nan

Be inclusive. Diverse opinions are important even during "normal" times, but I think they are all the more critical as we try to work together through this crisis. People, especially in leadership positions, are being asked to make many decisions in a compressed time frame. What better time to use the collective mind to inform how we operate? Many of you have been thinking, or are beginning to think, about how to restart your laboratory activities. Engage all members of the group in devising a means to operate that is safe while still allowing projects to resume. Reach out to your colleagues, locally and at other institutions, for ideas.

Be patient. It goes without saying that we are going to be living and working differently for a long time. To paraphrase Tony Fauci, the virus will decide when we can move back to the way we are used to. Let us not rush the process of returning to normal. There are lessons to be learned from the 1918 influenza pandemic, during which communities that were cautious in returning to normal suffered less in the long run, in terms of both physical and economic health.

Be a source of trusted information. As you know, in our world of 24/7 news and social media, there is a lot of misinformation floating around. Take every opportunity you have, as informed citizens, to educate your families, neighbors, and the broader population about the biology of the virus and how it causes disease, how public health measures work, how diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines are developed and tested, and how peer review works. This is but a short list of the areas in which we must engage as scientists who are trying to serve the public with our research.

I am confident that the scientific and health care communities will help to lead us out of the quandary in which we currently live. Let us work to do our parts, individually and collectively, to help out however we can. Stay safe, and stay well.

Coping with COVID: how a research team learned to stay engaged in this time of physical distancing