COVID-19 Roundup from Pioneer: Human testing of a vaccine; NYT best-selling author John Barry on COVID-19 & warmer weather; Just who’s getting stimulus $?; Latest unemployment #s; What will reopening look like?; Tipping point for Telehealth & more!

Pioneer staff share their top picks for COVID-19 stories highlighting useful resources, best practices, and questions we should be asking our public and private sector leaders. We hope you are staying safe, and we welcome your thoughts; you can always reach out to us via email:  pioneer@pioneerinstitute.org.

Our Top Picks for COVID-19 Pandemic News:
William Smith, Visiting Fellow in Life Sciences: A huge number of clinical trials for non-COVID drugs are being disrupted by the pandemic. Here is a list of some of the prominent ones. Gilead reports favorable data on Remdesivir. And more promising news: Pfizer could begin human testing of a COVID-19 vaccine as early as next week.

Jamie Gass, Director of PioneerEducation: What can we learn from the 1918 pandemic about COVID-19? This week on “The Learning Curve” podcast, Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with best-selling author of “The Great Influenza,” John M. Barry. You can also read his op-ed in yesterday’s New York Times.

What does the pandemic of 1918 teach us about our current situation? @CandalCara asks historian and author of 'The Great Influenza' @johnmbarry who says overall susceptibility may be more important than seasonality. https://t.co/pFKZy6n6RN pic.twitter.com/3X0NprIEVi

— Ricochet (@Ricochet) May 1, 2020

Micaela Dawson, Communications Director: Read this alarming Boston Globe story: “As she sorted the day’s mail earlier this week in her Framingham home, Mary Z. Connaughton was surprised to see an envelope from the IRS addressed to her mother. That’s because her mother’s been dead for eight months. But what Connaughton found inside really startled her: a letter, signed by the president, informing her mother that a $1,200 stimulus check had been direct deposited into her bank account.” Read the full article.

Michael Walker, Senior Fellow in Government Data Transparency: Check out our interactive map of COVID cases in Massachusetts, updated with newly released city and town data every week!

SURVEY: How will you look at commuting in the future? We’re asking over 30,000 people how their attitudes & habits will shift after COVID. Please be part of our work to understand our changing world – share your feedback, it takes only 2 minutes!

Our Picks for Public & Private Sector Best Practices:

Jim Stergios, Executive Director: What will it look like when we all re-open for business? Read Pioneer Research Analyst Rebekah Paxton’s new study, which was also covered in MassLive and the Boston Herald here and here.

Also, in collaboration with the law firm of Verrill, Pioneer released practical guides for employers and commercial real estate managers to get employees back to work safely.

Joe Selvaggi, Host, “Hubwonk”: This week, Pioneer Senior Fellow Josh Archambault and I interview Dr. Roy Schoenberg of Amwell, a Boston-based global telehealth technology company, about how the COVID-19 pandemic has catalyzed broader adoption of telemedicine.

Jamie Gass: With school closures impacting 50 million children across America, and a challenging transition to remote learning, here are some great resources for parents seeking supplementary material to introduce their children to literary giant, William Shakespeare.

Questions for Our Public & Private Sector Leaders:

Andrew Mikula, Peters Fellow: States across the country have enacted eviction moratoriums. What does this mean for the housing market in the long-term?

What’s the latest on unemployment? Greg Sullivan, Research Director, crunched the most recent numbers. Watch him on WBZ-TV and read more coverage here and here.

POLL RESULTS: Last week we asked, “Do you feel safe (from COVID exposure) riding MBTA subway, buses, or commuter rail now?” Here are the results:
NO: 77%
YES: 23%

Do YOU have interesting questions and/or articles to share with us? Please email us, or message us through our social media channels below!

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