The Smartphone Pandemic: How Big Tech and public health authorities partner in the digital response to Covid-19.

Digital technologies harnessed through smartphones have been deployed widely to support the response to Covid-19 internationally, often through partnerships between 'Big tech' and telecoms corporations and public health authorities. This paper provides an overview and critical analysis of the rapid rise of such new forms of public-private cooperation, focusing on their manifestation in the European region in the first phase of the pandemic. Drawing on a review of international media and documents, we discuss three main domains of public health action in which private technology companies and public health authorities have converged: contact-tracing, epidemic modelling and public health communication to manage the 'infodemic' of misinformation about the new coronavirus. Critics have raised concerns about how the digital response to Covid-19 may threaten privacy and enable greater state surveillance and control, and the possibility that semi-automated decision-making may exacerbate existing discrimination and inequalities. Our analysis extends such critiques by considering what the digital response to Covid-19 reveals about tech corporations' growing power to influence public health agendas. We discuss how they promote technical solutions to public health challenges that are politically seductive, but that have uncertain effectiveness and societal implications that warrant critical scrutiny.

Building and Sustaining Effective Partnerships for Training the Next Generation of Global Health Leaders.

Introduction: Partnerships are essential to creating effective global health leadership training programs. Global pandemics, including the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and more recently the COVID-19 pandemic, have tested the impact and stability of healthcare systems. Partnerships must be fostered to prepare the next generation of leaders to collaborate effectively and improve health globally. Objectives: We provide key matrices that predict success of partnerships in building global health leadership capacity. We highlight opportunities and challenges to building effective partnerships and provide recommendations to promote development of equitable and mutually beneficial partnerships. Findings: Critical elements for effective partnership when building global health leadership capacity include shared strategic vision, transparency and excellent communication, as well as intentional monitoring and evaluation of the partnership, not just the project or program. There must be recognition that partnerships can be unpredictable and unequal, especially if the end is not defined early on. Threats to equitable and effective partnerships include funding and co-funding disparities between partners from high-income and low-income countries, inequalities, unshared vision and priorities, skewed decision-making levels, and limited flexibility to minimize inequalities and make changes. Further, imbalances in power, privilege, position, income levels, and institutional resources create opportunities for exploitation of partners, particularly those in low-income countries, which widens the disparities and limits success and sustainability of partnerships. These challenges to effective partnering create the need for objective documentation of disparities at all stages, with key milestones to assess success and the environment to sustain the partnerships and their respective goals. Conclusions: Developing effective and sustainable partnerships requires a commitment to equality from the start by all partners and an understanding that there will be challenges that could derail otherwise well-intended partnerships. Guidelines and training on evaluation of partnerships exist and should be used, including generic indicators of equity, mutual benefit, and the added value of partnering. Key Takeaways: Effective partnerships in building global health leadership capacity require shared strategic vision and intentional monitoring and evaluation of goalsInequalities in partnerships may arise from disparities in infrastructure, managerial expertise, administrative and leadership capacity, as well as limited mutual benefit and mutual respectTo promote equitable and effective partnerships, it is critical to highlight and monitor key measures for success of partnerships at the beginning of each partnership and regularly through the lifetime of the partnership.We recommend that partnerships should have legal and financial laws through executed memoranda of understanding, to promote accountability and facilitate objective monitoring and evaluation of the partnership itself.More research is needed to understand better the contextual predictors of the broader influence and sustainability of partnership networks in global health leadership training.

Partnering with Local Hospitals and Public Health to Manage COVID-19 Outbreaks in Nursing Homes.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Almost half of deaths related to COVID-19 in the United States are linked to nursing homes (NHs). We describe among short-term and long-term residents at three NHs in Michigan the outbreak identification process, universal testing, point prevalence of COVID-19, and subsequent containment efforts, outcomes, and challenges. DESIGN: Outbreak investigation. SETTING: Three NHs in southeast Michigan. PARTICIPANTS: All residents (N = 215) at three NHs (total beds = 356) affiliated with a large academic healthcare system. METHODS: Upon detection of confirmed cases within the facility, each NH in collaboration and consultation with local hospital, public health officials, and parent corporation implemented immediate facility-wide testing and the following intervention measures: cohorting of COVID-19 positive residents; communication regarding testing and results with residents, healthcare professionals, and families; personal protective equipment reeducation and use throughout facilities; and dedicated staffing for infected patients cohorted in a dedicated COVID-19 wing. We collected patient data regarding demographics, symptoms, comorbidities, hospitalization, and 14-day outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 29 cases of COVID-19 were identified at three participating NHs. Nineteen cases of COVID-19 were identified through symptom-triggered testing from March 23 to April 23, 2020; 10 (4.7%) additional cases were identified through universal testing of 215 residents conducted from April 7 to 15, 2020. The hospitalization rate was 37.9%. The case fatality rate was 20.7% (6/29); these patients had multiple comorbidities. No residents who tested positive through the point-prevalence survey required hospitalization, and five were discharged home within 14 days. CONCLUSION: Proactive and coordinated steps between NH medical directors and administrators, referral hospitals including their laboratories, and local public health officials are necessary to rapidly respond to an outbreak and limit the transmission of COVID-19. This coordinated public health approach may save lives, minimize the burden to the healthcare system, and reduce healthcare costs.

Warp-Speed Covid-19 Vaccine Development: Beneficiaries of Maturation in Biopharmaceutical Technologies and Public-Private Partnerships.

It is anticipated that effective vaccines will enable the resumption of social and economic normalcy. Current calls for masking, social distancing and other restrictive measures for the public-good are difficult to enforce and are unstainable. As ~2-4% of the 50 million SARS-CoV2-infected have succumbed to Covid-19, the US department of Health and Human Services has organized a public-private partnership called Operation Warp Speed (OWS) to develop, produce and deliver 300 million doses of safe and effective vaccines with a January 2021 target. While a majority of the 300+ Covid-19 vaccine candidates are in various stages of preclinical and early-stage clinical testing, 6 clinical candidates are supported with over 10 billion USD plus integrated resources under the OWS agenda. This unprecedented approach is investing in the manufacture of product candidates ahead of product approval. It is enabled by new gene and recombinant pharmaceutical platform technologies that are accelerating the clinical study timeline from ~10 to less than 1 year. It is anticipated that one or more of the 6 candidates under the OWS initiative will be safe, effective and provide a sustained immune response to prevent infection and disease progression. This way, social and economic activities could return to normalcy.

Partnership between the academy and public and private health systems to fight COVID-19: an experience report in Tubarão, Santa Catarina, Brazil. / Parceria de serviços de saúde públicos e privados com a academia, no combate à COVID-19: relato de experiência em Tubarão, Santa Catarina.

This article presents an experience report about integration between public and private health services, health service managers and the academy, for surveillance and control of the COVID-19 epidemic, in the municipality of Tubarão, Santa Catarina, Brazil. The city is home to a university and has a large flow of people from different parts of the country, as well as being one of the first municipalities in the state of Santa Catarina to report cases of community transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The measures adopted included the implementation of the COVID-19 Monitoring Committee, the Municipal Health Emergency Operations Center, and the COVID-19 Contingency Plan. After 100 days of pandemic, 5,979 cases had been reported, 431 (7.2%) had been confirmed, of which five (1.2%) died. Early decisions, such as the immediate suspension of business activities and crowded events, may have reduced the spread of the virus. The partnerships put into place have provided innovation and supported public service management in decision-making based upon scientific evidence.

Apresenta-se o relato de experiência da integração entre serviços de saúde públicos e privados, gestores e universidade, para a vigilância e controle da epidemia de COVID-19 em Tubarão, SC, Brasil. A cidade, universitária, cenário de grande fluxo de pessoas de diferentes locais do país, foi um dos primeiros municípios do estado catarinense com transmissão comunitária do SARS-CoV-2. São detalhadas as medidas adotadas com a criação do Comitê de Monitoramento da COVID-19, do Centro de Operações de Emergências Municipais em Saúde, e do Plano de Contingência da Doença. Passados 100 dias de pandemia, foram 5.979 casos notificados e 431 (7,2%) confirmados, dos quais 5 (1,2%) foram a óbito. Decisões precoces ­ suspensão imediata das atividades de comércio e eventos com aglomeração ­ podem ter limitado a propagação do vírus. As parcerias estabelecidas trazem inovação e subsidiam a gestão pública nas tomadas de decisão pautadas em evidências científicas.

Se presenta la experiencia de la integración entre los servicios de Salud Pública y privados, los administradores y la universidad para la vigilancia y el control de la epidemia de COVID-19 en Tubarão, Santa Catarina, Brasil. La ciudad universitaria, con un gran flujo de personas de diferentes partes del país, fue uno de los primeros municipios del estado con transmisión comunitaria de SARS-CoV-2. Las medidas adoptadas se detallan con la creación del Comité de Monitoreo COVID-19, el Centro de Operaciones Municipales de Emergencia en Salud y un Plan de Contingencia de la Enfermedad. Después de 100 días de pandemia, se reportaron 5,979 casos, 431 (7,2%) confirmados, de los cuales cinco (1,2%) murieron. Las decisiones precoces, la suspensión inmediata de las actividades comerciales y de los eventos con aglomeración han reducido la propagación del virus. Las asociaciones establecidas aportan innovación y subsidian la gestión pública en la toma de decisiones basadas en evidencia científica.

COVID-19: Planning and Postpandemic Partnerships.

The emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has highlighted the need for strong partnerships between educators and healthcare professionals to facilitate the reopening of schools. School nurses are uniquely positioned to bridge this gap because of their role as a healthcare professional in the educational setting. Past research identifies the effectiveness of collaborative efforts to serve students by community partners, school system personnel, and school nurses. However, partnerships have been episodic and reactive rather than ongoing and proactive. The circumstances of COVID-19 present an opportunity for school nurses to promote collaboration and planning as an ongoing practice. Recommendations for school nurses to form ongoing public health and school system partnerships, as well as with teachers, parents, and school nursing colleagues, are presented.

A public-private partnership for the express development of antiviral leads: a perspective view.

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic raises the question of strategic readiness for emergent pathogens. The current case illustrates that the cost of inaction can be higher in the future. The perspective article proposes a dedicated, government-sponsored agency developing anti-viral leads against all potentially dangerous pathogen species. AREAS COVERED: The author explores the methods of computational drug screening and in-silico synthesis and proposes a specialized government-sponsored agency focusing on leads and functioning in collaboration with a network of labs, pharma, biotech firms, and academia, in order to test each lead against multiple viral species. The agency will employ artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to cut the costs further. The algorithms are expected to receive continuous feedback from the network of partners conducting the tests. EXPERT OPINION: The author proposes a bionic principle, emulating antibody response by producing a combinatorial diversity of high q uality generic antiviral leads, suitable for multiple potentially emerging species. The availability of multiple pre-tested agents and an even greater number of combinations would reduce the impact of the next outbreak. The methodologies developed in this effort are likely to find utility in the design of chronic disease therapeutics.