23.03.20
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has began funding the first round of six new projects to the tune of 10.5m, as the UK government looks to speed up testing of a vaccine, development of new therapies and improving our understanding of how to treat the Covid-19 infection.
As the UK and wider global medical community continues to grapple with the coronavirus outbreak, these six projects will receive the funding as part of UKRIs 20m rapid research response, which is also backed and funded by the Department of Health and Social Care through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
A promising new vaccine which has been developed by UK researchers is set to be supported through pre-clinical and clinical trials to determine whether it is safe and effective. The researchers will also see funding to help develop manufacturing processes for producing the vaccines at a million-dose scale so that, should the clinical trials prove successful, a vaccine could be made available to high-risk groups as quickly as possible.
Patients hospitalised within the NHS with the Covid-19 disease are taking part in a new clinical trial to test potential therapies. Other funded projects will develop new therapeutic antibodies and screen hundreds of existing drugs in the lab to find which ones show promise at tackling the coronavirus.
Another funded project is seeking to collect data on NHS coronavirus patients to answer many urgent questions including which treatments worked best, how the disease was transmitted and why are some people at higher risk of severe illness to better inform efforts to control the outbreak and improve treatment for patients in real time.
The research is aimed at supporting the UK governments efforts to save lives, protect the vulnerable and support the NHS so it can focus on helping those most in need. Building on the UKs world-leading expertise and capabilities in global health and infectious diseases, the research will continue to keep the UK at the forefront of shaping our understanding of the pandemic and best informing measures to tackle it, working collaboratively with experts around the world.
Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said: The world faces an unprecedented challenge in our efforts to tackle the spread of COVID-19 and it is vital we harness our research capabilities to the fullest extent to limit the outbreak and protect life.
Alongside the world-leading research overseen by the NIHR, these new six projects will allow us to boost our existing knowledge and test new and innovative ways to understand and treat the disease.
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UK Research and Innovation Chief Executive, Professor Sir Mark Walport, added: The UKs world-leading researchers have already made vital contributions to the understanding and responses to this pandemic.
UK Research and Innovation, in partnership with NIHR and DHSC, has moved quickly to fund this new, additional research to rapidly test re-purposed therapies in patients, understand the disease and its variation in susceptibility, and boost the development of new vaccines and therapies.
These efforts will be critical to finding better ways to treat and manage COVID-19, which we hope will help to save lives, protect the more vulnerable, and support the development, trials and in due course the scale up of production of much-needed vaccines.
We will continue to support new proposals for research and innovation that will help the UK and others to tackle the pandemic caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock praised the investment as a necessary step in the midst of a global health emergency to ensure the UK was using all of its extensive research expertise to help quickly develop new vaccines.
Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance added: The UK is home to incredible scientists and researchers who are all at the forefront of their field, and all united in their aim; protecting peoples lives from coronavirus.
The announcement made today reflects the vital work being undertaken by our scientists to help develop vaccines and treatments. This research could herald important breakthroughs that will put the NHS in a stronger position to respond to the outbreak.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Finding a vaccine to treat the highly contagious COVID-19 has become the top health priority around the world, putting researchers and pharmaceutical companies in a mad dash to come up with an injection that's safe and effective.
Im amazed at just how quickly some of these trials have ramped up, so thats good news, said Marc Jenkins, the director of microbiology and immunology at the University of Minnesota Medical School. I think there will be pressure to reduce some of the regulatory guidelines but I think the system will stick to its guns to some degree.
Finding a vaccine to treat the highly contagious COVID-19 has become the top health priority around the world, putting researchers and pharmaceutical companies in a mad dash to come up with an injection that's safe and effective.
There are several companies behind at least two potential vaccines and a third passive vaccine that seems to be the most effective.
They still have to follow FDA protocols and so I think thats good news, said Jenkins. Thats good for people and thats good for the science because if we do a sloppy trial we dont get any answers.
However, the process of creating a viable vaccine is long. The approval from the Food and Drug Administration is required before the vaccine can be deployed to the general population, but officials are speeding that up.
There are then three phases of testing. Currently, its in Phase 1 after several people in the Seattle area volunteered to be tested.
Its very likely that an effective vaccine will work through antibodies, so these people will have their blood drawn and well know whether that vaccine will begin to make antibodies and if so, thats a good sign, he said.
Another promising sign of beating this pandemic is the herd immunity it might create to communities once most of the general public eventually gets it.
Most of the virus genomes that have been sequenced from patients so far, the virus look almost identical, so that might suggest the virus is going to have a hard time creating a lot of variants of itselfthats good news, said Jenkins.
Herd immunity basically means that if enough people get the virus they will become immune and the outbreak will eventually fizzle out. That has happened with other infectious diseases like chicken pox and polio.
Each days delay in stopping human contact, experts said, creates more hot spots, none of which can be identified until about a week later, when the people infected there start falling ill.
To stop the explosion, municipal activity must be curtailed. Still, some Americans must stay on the job: doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers; police officers and firefighters; the technicians who maintain the electrical grid and gas and phone lines.
The delivery of food and medicine must continue, so that people pinned in their homes suffer nothing worse than boredom. Those essential workers may eventually need permits, and a process for issuing them, if the police are needed to enforce stay-at-home orders, as they have been in China and Italy.
People in lockdown adapt. In Wuhan, apartment complexes submit group orders for food, medicine, diapers and other essentials. Shipments are assembled at grocery warehouses or government pantries and dropped off. In Italy, trapped neighbors serenade one another.
Its an intimidating picture. But the weaker the freeze, the more people die in overburdened hospitals and the longer it ultimately takes for the economy to restart.
South Korea avoided locking down any city, but only by moving early and with extraordinary speed. In January, the country had four companies making tests, and as of March 9 had tested 210,000 citizens the equivalent of testing 2.3 million Americans.
As of the same date, fewer than 9,000 Americans had been tested.
Everyone who is infected in South Korea goes into isolation in government shelters, and phones and credit card data are used to trace their prior movements and find their contacts. Where they walked before they fell ill is broadcast to the cellphones of everyone who was nearby.
Taking large doses of single vitamins and minerals also carries risks. Excessive levels of zinc, for example, can disrupt the bodys uptake of copper, increasing the likelihood of anemia. Vitamin D is not metabolized efficiently without an adequate level of magnesium, and in high doses it can be toxic.
Vitamins and herbal supplements can also interact with prescription medications, dampening their effectiveness or, in the case of blood thinners, for example, raising concentrations to dangerously high levels.
There are times when taking a supplement can be very useful, such as during pregnancy or to address a clear nutrient deficiency. But for healthy adults who are worried about the coronavirus, eating a nutritious diet and getting proper sleep and exercise are the best ways to strengthen your immune system, said Linda Van Horn, chief of nutrition in the department of preventive medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Whole foods like fruits, vegetables, fish, poultry, nuts, legumes and milk contain a wide range of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals including zinc and vitamin D that work in synergy to protect your health.
This is an ideal time to look at what youre eating, said Dr. Van Horn. We all know that grocery stores have been experiencing some limitations. But for the most part people are still able to find fresh produce and other healthy foods.
Ms. Koff, the dietitian in Ohio, said she tells people it is fine to take a multivitamin to address any gaps in their nutrition. But she encourages people to focus on their diet, stress levels and sleep and warns them not to overload their systems with large doses of supplements.
This is the time to start implementing behaviors that support your health, not going and taking high amounts of things that are incorrectly listed as immune boosters, she said.
Dr. Scott Isaacs has worked as an endocrinologist for more than two decades, focused on the medical needs of adults with diabetes in the Atlanta area. He never expected to be serving on the front lines of a pandemic.
For weeks, his phone has been ringing off the hook. His diabetes patients, a high-risk group for coronavirus infection, want to know: How can they get tested? How can they stockpile extra medication? And can he write to their employers to recommend they work from home?
Last week, Dr. Isaacs saw a patient with Type 1 diabetes, a nurse who is 10 weeks pregnant. She asked him how long she should stay home from work to avoid possible exposure, and he had to respond honestly: I really dont have an answer to that.
Dr. Isaacs is used to relying on his medical expertise, but the coronavirus has suddenly put him in new territory, an experience shared by many medical specialists who may serve as the primary physicians of patients with particular medical needs. Physicians across every field who are trained to care for very specific medical problems are confronting a surge of patient questions and scrambling to keep up with rapid changes in case numbers and advisories from governments and health agencies.
Were hearing a lot of anxieties from specialists who dont know what the right thing to do is for their patients, said Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency physician in Rhode Island. Dermatologists, ophthalmologists, were even hearing from dentists.
Dr. Sandra Weber, president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, said the coronavirus outbreak had made it immediately clear how much Americans rely on medical specialists.
It has exposed that not every person has a primary care provider, she said, referring to people who may not regularly see an internist or family doctor.
Their first calls to the medical system could be to a specialist theyve been seeing for a particular health problem. Specialists in heart medicine, lung care and obstetrics have training that is highly pertinent to treating the effects of the coronavirus. But specialists in other fields are hearing queries they may not be used to answering.
Endocrinologists like Dr. Weber are helping their patients coordinate extra supplies of medication, in case they need to self-isolate. And psychiatrists, especially on campuses, are facing a barrage of questions on an array of topics, like potential virus exposure and the sudden upending of work and academic schedules.
For Dr. Gauri Khurana, a psychiatrist who works predominantly with college students, the coronavirus questions began as a trickle from patients with family in China. In recent weeks, its become a flood of anxious phone calls from young people wondering about how theyll complete graduation requirements or whether they might be infected.
I dont think a lot of them have primary care doctors and at this point everyone is terrified, wondering whats going to happen, she said. I have patients that want to drop out of school, move to Canada. Theyre grateful for any advice, especially coming from a doctor because theres so much misinformation.
So Dr. Khurana, reading news articles nonstop to educate herself on the virus, has done her best to counsel her patients on practical steps to prevent exposure: using credit cards instead of cash, wearing gloves when going outside and carrying personal items in sandwich bags. I wish I had taken sandwich bags to work and given everyone a sandwich bag, she said.
For specialists who treat high-risk demographics, the best medical advice for the coronavirus outbreak can feel contradictory: To stay safe, try to avoid the doctors office. Both the Surgeon General and the American College of Surgeons have advised that hospitals cancel elective procedures in the coming weeks, and some states have ordered postponements.
Dr. Rajeev Jain, a gastroenterologist in Dallas, sees a large number of patients with autoimmune disorders like Crohns. To help minimize their risk of coronavirus exposure, he has canceled appointments that arent immediately necessary on a normal Monday and Tuesday he would see 30 patients, and this week hell see six.
Much of his time is now spent fielding calls from patients who wonder if they should stop taking their immunosuppressive medications in order to minimize risk of serious infection. Following a joint advisory from American gastroenterological associations, Dr. Jain has told patients to continue their course of normal treatment.
He worries that if his patients stop taking medications, they could contract other illnesses and be hospitalized. Thats where a large reservoir of Covid-19 is at the moment, he said. Thats the last thing I want to do.
As physicians brace for what they realize will be an increasingly challenging period, representatives of medical associations say they are moving quickly to develop and distribute resources to support their members. Patrice Harris, president of the American Medical Association, said the association had developed a Covid-19 online resource center and physicians guide. She added that the association was aware of and working to address shortages in protective equipment for physicians, like N-95 respirators.
As fears about the virus spread in local communities, physicians are also facing unanticipated stress. Dr. Isaacs said his clinic had been robbed four times of masks, sanitizing wipes and hand soap. Dr. Supriya Mahajan, a neurologist at a private practice in Ohio, said that shes had to confront the financial losses of converting most in-person appointments to telemedicine because her partner in the practice is her father, whose age makes him at high-risk for severe Covid-19.
And some specialists wonder whether, in the weeks to come, they might be called in to assist with front-line care. Dr. Jain works at a Dallas hospital that treated Ebola patients in 2014 and recalls when I.C.U. doctors were put in quarantine.
We dont know if in two weeks there will be a surge and well be pulled in to take care of patients in the E.R., he said. The system is already starting to get overwhelmed.
Dr. Jains days are now filled with all sorts of new precautions: designating clothing just for work, removing his scrubs before coming home, hand sanitizing more often than he already did. Its an adjustment, he said, to his routine life as a gastrointestinal specialist.
But foremost on his mind is the health of his patients.
Im reminded that this is why I got into medicine in the first place, Dr. Jain said. I need to step up now and do what I can to help.
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A doctor in Germany prepares a swab to test for coronavirus infection.
By Robert F. ServiceMar. 22, 2020 , 12:15 PM
As the United States races to ramp up testing for the pandemic coronavirus using technology based on the tried-and-true polymerase chain reaction (PCR), alternative approaches are beginning to roll out that could make it easier and quicker for people to learn whether they have been infected. Some methods modify the standard PCR test, which amplifies tiny bits of genetic material to enable detection, whereasothers sequence the virus directly or use the genome editor CRISPR.
Faster and cheaper tests are coming, says Evan Jones, CEO of OpGen, a rapid diagnostics company. However, he adds, developing new kinds of tests is going to take time. Some of the new tests are coming online now, but others will likely take months to validate and ready for widespread distribution.
Testing, testing, testing has been the mantra repeated again and again by World Health OrganizationDirector-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Diagnostic assays that identify active infections in people are vitally important for public health efforts, not just for individuals health concerns. Widespread diagnostic testing, along with isolation of the infected, contact tracing, and quarantining of those contacts, seems to have been key in South Koreas work to suppress virus spread.
In the United States, the slow rollout of coronavirus PCR tests has been widely attributed to a combination of stringent rules aimed at ensuring their reliability and a complex web of companies and health care systems responsible for developing, carrying out, and paying for tests. The Trump administration says testing is accelerating. On 16 March, at a White House press conference, U.S. Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir saidthe country would be able to process 1 million tests by the end of the week, and 2 million the following week. But the actual numbers arent close to that yet. According to data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project, a nonprofit collaboration of public health officials and journalists counting tests given in the United States, 191,541 PCR diagnostics have been performed as of 22 March, with 24,345 of them positive for the virus.
On 29 February, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted new rules to allow for emergency use authorizations of coronavirus tests beyond the ones being made and distributed by the U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Academic virology labs, public health departments, and companies sprang to work creating their own PCR tests. Today, some four dozen organizations have received FDA approval for their tests. Among the largest are diagnostic companies, such as Roche Molecular Systems, which received FDAs green light for its test this week. It will initially supply some 400,000 tests per week in the United States and 3 million globally, according to Alexandra Valsamakis, the companys chief medical officer. Other large companies have recently gained approval for their tests as well, including Thermo Fisher Scientific and Abbott Laboratories.
University virology labs have also leaped into the breach to help diagnose cases in their vicinity. This past week, for example, doctors at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) began to use a homemade PCR test to check for infection in Allegheny county. For now, its number of tests remains small, about 100 per week. We definitely wished we had started it sooner, says Alan Wells, who heads UPMCs clinical laboratories.
PCR is the most commonly used test for diagnosing coronavirus because its highly accurate. (SeeHow does the most common coronavirus test work?) But other problems limit it. Its not getting the turnaround we need, says Steven Wolinsky, an infectious diseases physician at Northwestern University. Each test takes about 4 hours once a sample reaches a centralized testing lab, with the time split between sample preparation and the actual PCR test. With transport and queues, getting a result can take 2 to 4 days. In that time, infected people may spread the virus to many others.
Another new dimension is now being added to the coronavirus diagnostic landscape: home tests, which involve mailing a sample taken at home to a lab. Tomorrow, for example, Everlywell expects to begin toshipkits to homes and retail pharmacies. These tests will start with screening questions, either online or at a retailer, to determine whether a person is likely to have been exposed to the virus. If they are, they can receive a nasopharyngeal sampling kit by mail or can buy one from a local retailer. A person will be given detailed instructions to administer their own swab, insert it into a protective vial, and overnight mail it to one of dozens of diagnostic labs (which partnered with Everlywell and already have FDA approval) for PCR analysis.
Frank Ong, Everlywells chief medical and scientific officer, says the company expects to quickly ramp up from offering thousands of such tests per day to tens of thousands. Although each test will still likely require a 4-day wait for results, Ong says, this home sampling strategy carries major benefits: It will protect health care workers from exposure to potential infection and free up their time. We need to make sure we give them the bandwidth to take care of patients, Ong says. Other companies, including Nurx and Carbon Health, say theyre now shipping limited supplies of their own home sampling kits.
Most PCR tests for the new virus are being done with big, expensive automated machines that do many tests at once. Major hospitals or diagnostic facilities have them, but another option beginning to roll out now is smaller, less expensive devices that also do nucleic acid amplification. These could be used by smaller hospitals and even individual doctors offices.
On Friday, for example, Cepheid, which sells small PCR systems for rapidly detecting influenza viruses, tuberculosis bacteria, and other microbes, received FDA emergency use approval for a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2) test cartridge that slots into the companys GenXpert system, a device the size of espresso machine that can produce a diagnostic result in as little as 45 minutes. Cepheid officials say that 23,000 such systems are in place worldwide, with 5000 in the United States. On 19 March, GenMark received FDA emergency use approval for its own coronavirus tests, which run on similar-sizemachines that use a proprietary electrochemical approach to detect target genetic material in less than 2 hours. Other companies rushing to deliver point-of-care diagnostic machines include Mesa Biotech, HiberGene, Mobidiag, and QuantuMDx.
So, too, are companies such as Oxford Nanopore and Fulgent Genetics, which instead of using PCR directly sequence any genetic material in a sample and then look for matches to, say, the new coronavirus. This high-speed gene sequencing approach could help characterize the coronavirusgenome to better understand how the virus is evolving, but it could alsobe a diagnostic in certain situations, such as remote sites without access to PCR. Oxford Nanopores handheld devices have been used in Ebola outbreaks, and the company sent many to China early in the pandemic.
The fastest way to test for the coronavirus may ultimately be offered by companies using the CRISPR genome editor, better known for adding or deleting DNA in cells. Two U.S. companies, Mammoth Biosciences and Sherlock Biosciences, say they have created CRISPR-based tests and are in the process of validating them with patient samples before seeking emergency use approval by FDA. The technique starts with a patient sample, extracts viral RNA, and uses a fast nucleic acid amplification test called loop-mediated amplification to make just enough RNA for the test to detect. Researchers then add two components of a CRISPR genome editor, a protein called CAS12 that cuts DNA or RNA and a guide RNA that slots into CAS12 and helps it search out a sequence corresponding to a piece of the coronavirus genome. If CAS12 and its guide find a match in the RNA, CAS12 binds to that matched RNA, which activates CAS12 to cut it and go on to cut any other short RNA or DNA strands in the vicinity, including copies of a strand designed to liberate color-changing molecules when CAS12 cuts them free. The upshot can be a simple color change on a test strip.
The technique excels at hunting for small snippets of genetic material, says Jennifer Doudna, a biochemist at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, a CRISPR pioneer, who is chair of Mammoth Biosciencess science advisory board.
In a preprint posted 10 March on medRxiv, researchers at Mammoth Biosciences and UCSan Franciscoreport that tests on clinical samples produced results with accuracy rates comparable to PCR in just 30 minutes. It uses a simple paperlike strip with a colored line that appears with a positive result. The company is discussing with partners manufacturing test kits that would allow rapid and cheap diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection at home without requiring medical know-how, says Trevor Martin, Mammoths CEO.
It may take months to finalize the test and get regulatory approval for it, so it likely wont be ready in the crucial weeks ahead. But it could be ready if the spread of the coronavirus continues. Some predict the virus will also recede but then have a resurgence of infections in the fall. Getting results wouldnt require PCR machines operated by trained technicians, Martin says. It would be a game changer for our response to emerging diseases, Martin says.
Even as companies and academic labs are scaling up their PCR-based diagnostic efforts, hospitals and testing sites around the country report that they are facing a more immediate crunch: Many are running out of chemicals and other materials that enable the tests, such as the swabs to collect samples from patients and the reagents needed by PCR. Benjamin Pinsky, a Stanford University pathologist who developed a PCR-based diagnostic test in use in Northern California, says his lab is facing rolling shortages of different supplies, most notably the kits used to extract RNA from viral samples, before it can be loaded into PCR machines.
This has been a big challenge, Pinsky says. Weve had to be very nimble in dealing with this, constantly switching suppliers or even chemical procedures, which must be validated before they can be used on patient samples. His team has even sent pleas over Twitter to the Stanford community and regional biotech companies calling for donations of reagent assemblies, such as kits from Zymo and Qiagen. And even though donations have been pouring in, supplies are still running short, Pinsky says.
Reagent companies are trying to respond. For example, Qiagen, a major supplier of RNA extraction kits, announced Tuesday that its employees are working around the clock to increase production from 1.5 million kits per month to 6.5 million per month by the end of April and further increases later.
Pinsky, for one, says hes ready for companies to take over coronavirus testing entirely from academics such as himself. Im hopeful these companies will be able to provide the testing they have promised, Pinsky says. That remains to be seen.
MUSKEGON, Mich. Muskegon County has identified its first positive case of COVID-19 on Monday, March 23.
Public Health Muskegon County (PHMC) was able to identify the positive case through Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) testing.
Weve been anticipating and expecting the confirmation of COVID-19 in our community, said Kathy Moore, Muskegon County Health Officer. To slow the potential spread its critical for the public to comply with public health orders and practice common sense precautions.
The positive case is an adult female. PHMC officials are now working to find the people who have been in close contact with the woman.
No other details about the case were available as of Monday morning.
Those who are identified will be monitored for symptoms and be asked to self-quarantine.
RELATED: Coronavirus live updates: China slams US for rhetoric; Olympics move closer to postponement
The uncertainty of the situation brings a great deal of anxiety to everyone, said Mark Eisenbarth, Muskegon County Administrator. We need your help in following the Executive Orders of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in an effort to protect all the citizens of Muskegon County.
STATE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COVID-19
Patients with confirmed infection have reportedly had mild to severe respiratory illness with symptoms of:
The best prevention for viruses, such as influenza, the common cold or COVID-19 is to:
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One reason for measured optimism is the prospect that antiviral medicines will beat the coronavirus; some are already in clinical trials. Scientists have hopes for remdesivir, originally developed for Ebola; chloroquine, an old anti-malaria drug; and some anti-H.I.V. and immune-boosting drugs. Many other drugs are also lined up for trials.
Even without proven treatment, the coronavirus may be less lethal than was originally feared, so long as health care systems are not overwhelmed. In South Korea and in China outside Hubei Province, about 0.8 percent of those known to be infected died, and the rate was 0.6 percent on a cruise ship.
Thats still roughly six times the rate of seasonal flu, about 0.1 percent, but Dr. John Ioannidis of Stanford University argues that the fatality rate may end up even lower. He warns that we are engaging in hugely disruptive interventions without firm evidence of the threat that the virus poses. Singapore has had more than 200 confirmed cases of the virus and not a single death.
About four out of five people known to have had the virus had only mild symptoms, and even among those older than 90 in Italy, 78 percent survived. Two-thirds of those who died in Italy had pre-existing medical conditions and were also elderly; Dr. David L. Katz, the former director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University, notes that many might have died soon of other causes even if the coronavirus had not struck.
That said, a new C.D.C. study finds that of coronavirus cases in the United States requiring admission to the intensive care unit, nearly half involved patients under age 65; there is also concern about lasting lung damage among survivors.
Putting it all together, Dr. Tara C. Smith, an epidemiologist at Kent State University, said: Im not pessimistic. I think this can work. She thinks it will take eight weeks of social distancing to have a chance to slow the virus, and success will depend on people changing behaviors and on hospitals not being overrun. If warm weather helps, if we can get these drugs, if we can get companies to produce more ventilators, we have a window to tamp this down, Smith said.
So thats the best case, and its plausible. If you want to feel upbeat, stop reading here.
Now we get to the other end of the range of possibilities. Dr. Neil M. Ferguson, a British epidemiologist who is regarded as one of the best disease modelers in the world, produced a sophisticated model with a worst case of 2.2 million deaths in the United States.
Maybe it was that one store where you shopped while on vacation a few years ago, or perhaps that online service that you used just last week, but its all the same message: Businesses have flooded everyone on their email lists with coronavirus updates, tips on staying healthy and words of encouragement much to peoples dismay.
Thanks to the Insta ad that lured me into buying a pair of everyday/gym-to-office/rugged/softest/all-weather/spill-proof/hidden pocket pants for sending me 6 emails to let me know how their company is dealing with #coronavirus, one user said on Twitter.
Is anyone else now only realizing how many company email subscriptions theyre part of? Thanks, company I booked a gig ticket through five years ago, Im glad youre also disinfecting your offices #coronavirus, said another.
The email deluge, which quickly became a running joke online, raises questions about marketing practices as nonessential businesses closed shops and storefronts amid the spread of the coronavirus.
The basic element of crisis communication is that you should say something, said Hilary Fussell Sisco, an associate professor and chair of strategic communication at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn.
The emails can be an effective strategy, she said, but it depends on the person receiving them someone who last ate at a restaurant in 2007 might dismiss its message, but a person who orders delivery twice a week will be looking for that information.
Theres also a reputational side to it, Dr. Fussell Sisco said.
Its not just that I dont want to order anything from you right now, or youre going to be closed, she said, adding, Are you somebody that I want to buy from again, once all this is over, because of what your practices were?
Some messages have included details from companies on how theyre weathering the pandemic and whether they will continue paying or providing benefits for their workers business decisions that some consumers value more than a good sale.
Unless your company is emailing me to tell me how youre paying your employees and contractors during this time, one user wrote on Twitter, I do not care for your coronavirus marketing email one bit.
Michael Wentz, the director of digital marketing at Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y., said companies that were sending out emails with facts about the pandemic, as well as their responses to it, were demonstrating great social responsibility.
That, he said, gives consumers a better understanding or appreciation for that company because they felt the need, even though theyre not obligated to and its not in their purview to be giving me that information.
But the message can be easily muddied, so businesses need to make sure their emails are cohesive and stick to one message, Mr. Wentz said. In other words, avoid dropping updates about your staff in the same email in which you send out a coupon code.
David Hagenbuch, a professor of marketing at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pa., said companies needed to do some soul-searching before hitting the send button.
If a restaurant, for example, has very important health and safety reasons for sending the email then those motives are pretty legitimate, he said, warning that customers know when a company sends an email just for the sake of sending one.
Consumers are increasingly savvy, Professor Hagenbuch said. As we read these emails, we can tell pretty quickly if one is being sent with the former types of reasons in mind, our health and safety, versus ones that just come across as kind of disingenuous. Theyre just trying to roll with the tide.
Geneva, 23 March 2020: FIFA, the international governing body of football, and the World Health Organization (WHO) have teamed up to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) by launching a new awareness campaign led by world-renowned footballers, who are calling on all people around the world to follow five key steps to stop the spread of the disease.
The Pass the message to kick out coronavirus campaign promotes five key steps for people to follow to protect their health in line with WHO guidance, focused on hand washing, coughing etiquette, not touching your face, physical distance and staying home if feeling unwell.
FIFA and its President Gianni Infantino have been actively involved in passing the message against this pandemic since the very beginning, said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the virtual launch of the campaign at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Be it through campaigns or funding, FIFA has stood up to the coronavirus, and I am delighted that world football is supporting WHO to kick out the coronavirus. I have no doubt with this type of support that together we will win.
We need teamwork to combat the coronavirus, said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. FIFA has teamed up with WHO because health comes first. I call upon the football community worldwide to join us in supporting this campaign to pass the message even further. Some of the greatest players to have played the beautiful game have put their names to the campaign and are united in their desire to pass the message to kick out COVID-19.
Twenty-eight players are involved in the video campaign, which is being published in 13 languages.
Sami Al Jaber (KSA), Alisson Becker (BRA), Emre Belzolu (TUR), Jared Borgetti (MEX), Gianluigi Buffon (ITA), Iker Casillas (ESP), Sunil Chhetri (IND), Youri Djorkaeff (FRA), Han Duan (CHN), Samuel Etoo (CMR), Radamel Falcao (COL), Laura Georges (FRA), Valeri Karpin (RUS), Miroslav Klose (GER), Philipp Lahm (GER), Gary Lineker (ENG), Carli Lloyd (USA), Lionel Messi (ARG), Mido (EGY), Michael Owen (ENG), Park Ji-sung (KOR) , Carles Puyol (ESP), Clia ai (GER), Asako Takakura (JPN), Yaya Tour (CIV), Juan Sebastin Vern (ARG), Sun Wen (CHN) and Xavi Hernndez (ESP).
A video campaign, which will be published on player and FIFA digital channels, is also being provided as individual localized files to the 211 FIFA member associations and media agencies, together with a graphics toolkit for implementation on social media to further pass the message.
It starts with your hands, says Alisson Becker, WHO Goodwill ambassador for health promotion, Liverpool FC and Brazil goalkeeper, and The Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper, 2019. Please wash your hands frequently with soap and water or an alcohol-based solution.
Such frequent washing with soap and water, or preferably with an alcohol-based hand solution, kills viruses that may be on your hands. It is simple, but it is very important.
Cover your nose and mouth with a bent elbow or tissue when you sneeze or cough, says Carli Lloyd two-time FIFA Womens World Cup winner from the United States. Dispose of tissue immediately and wash your hands.
Droplets spread the coronavirus. By following respiratory hygiene, you protect the people around you from contracting viruses, such as cold, flu and coronavirus.
Avoid touching your face, particularly your eyes, nose or mouth to prevent the virus from entering your body, adds FC Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi, The Best FIFA Mens Player in 2019, and a multiple FIFA Ballon dOr winner.
Hands touch too many surfaces and can quickly pick up viruses. Once contaminated, hands can transfer the virus to your face, from where the virus can move inside your body, making you feel unwell.
In terms of social interaction, take a step back, says Han Duan, who represented China PR 188 times in an international career that spanned 11 years. Stay at least one metre distance from others.
By maintaining such social distancing, you are helping to avoid breathing in any droplets from someone who sneezes or coughs in close proximity.
If you feel unwell, stay home, concludes Samuel Etoo, former FC Barcelona and Cameroon striker, who represented his country 114 times. Please follow all instructions provided by your local health authorities.
If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention and call in advance.
Keep informed as local health authorities provide the latest information on the situation in your area. Please follow their specific instructions, and call in advance to allow them to direct you to the appropriate local health facility. This serves to protect you and to help prevent the spread of virus and other infections.
FIFA have also pledged $10 million to support the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO.
For more information, please consult @WHO and follow the latest information online.
