COVID-19 Roundup from Pioneer: How long does COVID-19 survive?; Remdesivir to the rescue; HubWonk: Attorneys & clients at risk? & 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: NEJM published a study on how the virus survives on different surfaces. It lasts longest on plastics and stainless steel. It also can survive in the air for hours.

Also from Bill:

• Data about Gilead’s trial of Remdesivir (leaked to STAT news, not from Gilead’s summary of the clinical trial data) indicated that 111 of 113 severely ill patients rapidly recovered.
• Here is an update on FDA efforts surrounding serological testing, a potentially important tool that may allow many people to return to work as they may have immunity to the virus.
• India is taking steps to stem panic buying of these two drugs.

Mary Z. Connaughton, Director of Government Transparency: Mike Festa, State Director of AARP Massachusetts, wants COVID-19 transparency for long-term care facilities in a way that protects the confidentiality of the state’s 57,500 residents. With 44% of COVID deaths occurring in skilled-nursing, assisted-living and rest homes facilities, his proposal makes good sense.  Hats off to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for this informative dashboard that also includes COVID-19 information by long-term care facilities as of yesterday!

• Read more about COVID-19 in Massachusetts nursing homes here.

Our Picks for Public & Private Sector Best Practices:
Joe Selvaggi, Host, Hubwonk: This week on Pioneer’s new podcast, HubWonk, I’m joined by Pioneer’s Director of Government Transparency, Mary Z. Connaughton, and Kosta Ligris, attorney and entrpreneur, for a discussion about ways to protect Massachusetts attorneys and clients from risk of COVID exposure.

Jamie Gass, Director of PioneerEducation: Christensen Institute co-founder Michael Horn joined co-hosts Dr. Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson for Friday’s episode of “The Learning Curve” podcast to talk about the technological advancements that are allowing some school districts to implement remote learning in response to COVID-19.  Since Governor Baker just announced that schools will remain closed for the academic year, this is a must-listen! Also from Jamie: David Randall of the National Association of Scholars wrote a thoughtful article about actions higher education institutions can take to weather this crisis.

Barbara Anthony, Senior Fellow in Healthcare: Kudos to the Baker Administration for increasing transparency now and publishing COVID-19 cases by city and town on a weekly basis, a change for which Pioneer advocated. Previously only county wide data was released. View Pioneer’s mapping of cases here.

Questions for Our Public & Private Sector Leaders:

How will our state and local leaders plan for re-opening businesses post-COVID? Rebekah Paxton, Research Analyst & Greg Sullivan, Research Director wrote a report released yesterday showing the impact of COVID-19 unemployment on Massachusetts cities and towns by industry. Read coverage in CommonWealth magazine and Patch.

What will happen to sports stadiums and convention centers? Greg Sullivan shared his thoughts in this Boston Business Journal story.

Shawni Littlehale, Director of the Better Government Competition: How will COVID-19 impact rental housing?

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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