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Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are known to cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

A novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was identified in 2019 in Wuhan, China. This is a new coronavirus that has not been previously identified in humans.

This course provides a general introduction to COVID-19 and emerging respiratory viruses and is intended for public health professionals, incident managers and personnel working for the United Nations, international organizations and NGOs.

As the official disease name was established after material creation, any mention of nCoV refers to COVID-19, the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus.

Please note that the content of this course is currently being revised to reflect the most recent guidance. You can find updated information on certain COVID-19-related topics in the following courses: Vaccination: COVID-19 vaccines channel IPC measures: IPC for COVID-19 Antigen rapid diagnostic testing: 1) SARS-CoV-2 antigen rapid diagnostic testing ; 2) Key considerations for SARS-CoV-2 antigen RDT implementation

Please note: These materials were last updated on 16/12/2020.

Course contents

Emerging respiratory viruses, including covid-19: introduction:, module 1: introduction to emerging respiratory viruses, including covid-19:, module 2: detecting emerging respiratory viruses, including covid-19: surveillance:, module 3: detecting emerging respiratory viruses, including covid-19: laboratory investigations:, module 4: risk communication :, module 5 : community engagement:, module 6: preventing and responding to an emerging respiratory virus, including covid-19:, enroll me for this course, certificate requirements.

  • Gain a Record of Achievement by earning at least 80% of the maximum number of points from all graded assignments.

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The Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine

Evidence Service to support the COVID-19 response

Coronaviruses – a general introduction

March 25, 2020

Who first described them; why they are called coronaviruses; what they are; how they invade cells; how we detect them

Jeffrey K Aronson Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences University of Oxford

Until recently, most people will never have heard of coronaviruses. But they, and the diseases they cause in humans and animals, have been recognized for over 50 years.

Who first discovered coronaviruses?

Avian infectious bronchitis was first described in newborn chicks in 1931 by Schalk & Hawn (J Am Vet Med Ass 1931; 78: 413–23) and by Bushnell & Brandly in 1933 (Poultry Science 1933; 12: 55-60). These papers were both cited by Beach & Schalm , 1936, who confirmed that the infection was due to a filterable virus and identified two strains, with cross-immunity. The virus was cultivated in 1937 by Fred Beaudette and Charles Hudson, from the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (J Am Vet Med Ass 1937; 90: 51–8 cited by Marks ) and later by Cunningham & Stuart in 1947 .

In 1951 Gledhill & Andrewes isolated a hepatitis virus from mice, now also known to be a coronavirus.

In 1965, the virologist David Tyrrell, Director of the Medical Research Council’s Common Cold Research Unit at Harnham Down near Salisbury in Wiltshire, and his colleague Mark Bynoe published a paper in the British Medical Journal , in which they described a virus, which they called B814, and identified it as a cause of the common cold. They tried to characterize other viruses, but without much success, and thought that viruses of which they found evidence were rhinoviruses.

On 1 April 1967 Tyrell, this time with his colleague June Almeida, from the Department of Medical Microbiology in London’s St Thomas’s Hospital Medical School, identified three uncharacterized respiratory viruses, of which two had not previously been associated with human diseases. They reported that two of the viruses, 229E and B814, of which they published electron micrographs, were indistinguishable from the particles of avian infectious bronchitis.

Then Almeida and Tyrell, with six other colleagues, reported in Nature in 1968 that there was a group of viruses that caused not only avian bronchitis but also murine hepatitis and upper respiratory tract diseases in humans, as shown in Figure 1, taken from their brief annotation, which was published under the general heading “News and Views” (Almeida JD, Berry DM, Cunningham CH, Hamre D, Hofstad MS, Mallucci L, McIntosh K, Tyrrell DAJ. Virology: Coronaviruses. Nature 1968; 220(5168): 650). This is the first recorded instance of the term “coronaviruses”.

The virus of avian infectious bronchitis is classified as a gammacoronavirus, while most of the coronaviruses that infect humans are betacoronoviruses. The human coronavirus HCoV-229E described by Almeida and Tyrrell is an alphacoronavirus.

introduction of covid 19 assignment

Figure 1 . Details of the properties of coronaviruses, first published in Nature (1968; 220(5168): 650); David Tyrrell, at the Common Cold Research Unit, Salisbury, Wiltshire, offered to provide a short bibliography to anyone interested in the data on which the table was based

Why are they called coronaviruses?

As the journal Nature reported in 1968, “these viruses are members of a previously unrecognized group which [the virologists] suggest should be called the coronaviruses, to recall the characteristic appearance by which these viruses are identified in the electron microscope.”

The word “corona” has many different meanings (see Appendix 2). But it was the sun that the virologists had in mind when they chose the name coronaviruses. As they wrote, they compared “the characteristic ‘fringe’ of projections” on the outside of the virus with the solar corona (not, as some have suggested, the points on a crown). Figure 2 illustrates this.

introduction of covid 19 assignment

Figure 2 . Left: The virions of coronaviruses; Right: The corona of the sun seen during an eclipse

What are coronaviruses and how do they invade cells?

Coronaviruses are single-stranded RNA viruses, about 120 nanometers in diameter. They are susceptible to mutation and recombination and are therefore highly diverse. There are about 40 different varieties (see Appendix 1) and they mainly infect human and non-human mammals and birds. They reside in bats and wild birds, and can spread to other animals and hence to humans. The virus that causes COVID-19 is thought to have originated in bats and then spread to snakes and pangolins and hence to humans, perhaps by contamination of meat from wild animals, as sold in China’s meat markets.

The corona-like appearance of coronaviruses is caused by so-called spike glycoproteins, or peplomers, which are necessary for the viruses to enter host cells. The spike has two subunits; one subunit, S1, binds to a receptor on the surface of the host’s cell; the other subunit, S2, fuses with the cell membrane. The cell membrane receptor for both SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 is a form of angiotensin converting enzyme, ACE-2, different from the enzyme that is inhibited by conventional ACE-1 inhibitors, such as enalapril and ramipril.

Briefly, the S1 subunit of the spike binds to the ACE-2 enzyme on the cell membrane surface. A host transmembrane serine protease, TMPRSS2 , then activates the spike and cleaves ACE-2. TMPRSS2 also acts on the S2 subunit, facilitating fusion of the virus to the cell membrane. The virus then enters the cell. Inside the cell the virus is released from endosomes by acidification or the action of an intracellular cysteine protease, cathepsin.

A model and a more detailed description of these events is shown in Figure 3.

introduction of covid 19 assignment

Figure 3 . A proposed model of the mechanisms whereby coronavirus SRA-CoV-2 enters cells

  • The coronavirus approaches the cell membrane
  • An S1 subunit (red) at the distal end of a glycoprotein spike of the virus binds to a membrane-bound molecule of ACE-2 (blue)
  • As more S1 subunits of the glycoprotein spikes bind to membrane-bound molecules of ACE-2, the membrane starts to form an envelope around the virus (an endosome)
  • The process continues …
  • … until the endosome is complete
  • The virus can enter the cell in two ways:

(a)    A cell membrane-bound serine protease (brown), TMPRSS2, cleaves the virus’s S1 subunits (red) from its S2 subunits (black) and also cleaves the ACE-2 enzymes; the endosome enters the cell ( endocytosis ), where the virus is released by acidification or the action of another protease, cathepsin

(b)    The same serine protease, TMPRSS2, causes irreversible conformational changes in the virus’s S2 subunits, activating them, after which the virus fuses to the cell membrane and can be internalized by the cell

A serine protease inhibitor, camostat mesylate, used in Japan to treat chronic pancreatitis , inhibits the TMPRSS2 and partially blocks the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into bronchial epithelial cells in vitro.

Research interest in coronaviruses

The first coronaviruses found to infect humans were called 229E and OC43, but they caused very mild infections, similar to the common cold. It was not until the outbreaks of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and then MERS (the Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome or camel flu) that it was appreciated that they could cause serious human infections. Those two infections are thought to have come from bats via civet cats and camels.

This awakening of interest in coronaviruses at different times is reflected in the pattern of publications about them. After the initial description of coronaviruses in 1968 there was a slow increase in the numbers of publications dealing with them, followed by two peaks, after two epidemics: the SARS coronavirus epidemic in 2003–4 and an outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhoea in North America in 2013 (Figure 4). Identification of the first cases of MERS in Saudi Arabia in 2012, and then elsewhere (e.g. in South Korea in 2015), also caused by a coronavirus, may also have contributed.

I have previously highlighted the fact that the major peaks of interest in the coronaviruses have followed major infections in humans and animals. In my BMJ opinion column on 31 January this year, where some of this article has previously appeared. I wrote that I expected to see another peak in the numbers of publications following the current epidemic. My original graph ended with the 2019 figures. I have now added the latest numbers, from 2020, to the graph, which shows that my prophecy has already been fulfilled. More publications on coronaviruses have been logged in Pubmed in the first 12 weeks of 2020 than in any previous complete year. The difficulty in preventing and treating the infection is matched by the difficulty in keeping up with the published literature.

introduction of covid 19 assignment

Figure 4 . Numbers of publications with “coronavirus/es” as text words (blue) or in titles (orange) (source PubMed Legacy); each point represents one year, but the rightmost points cover only the first 12 weeks of 2020

Testing for coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2

Viral RNA can be detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR, or quantitative PCR, qPCR, sometimes referred to as “real-time PCR” or RT-PCR, causing confusion with another term, “reverse transcriptase PCR”) (Figure 5). In this test, the virus’s single-stranded RNA is converted to its complementary DNA by reverse transcriptase; specific regions of the DNA, marked by so-called primers , are then amplified. This is done by synthesizing new DNA strands from deoxynucleoside triphosphates using DNA polymerase. Occasional false negatives have been reported .

introduction of covid 19 assignment

Figure 5 . Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR)

  • A primer is attached to the 3 prime end of a single strand of viral RNA
  • Deoxynucleoside triphosphates are added stepwise …
  •  … creating a DNA copy of the viral RNA
  • The single strand of DNA is separated …
  • … and double-stranded complementary DNA (cDNA) is prepared …
  • … copies of which are synthesized using primers and DNA polymerase

Step 6 can be repeated many times, doubling the numbers of DNA molecules created each time; 30 steps, for example, will yield 2 30  (i.e. 1,073,741,824) or about 10 9  molecules

An immunoassay has also been described , but it has a high false omission (or exclusion) rate (Table 1).

Table 1 . Diagnostic features of an immunoassay for SARS-CoV-2

introduction of covid 19 assignment

Efforts are currently being made to develop and implement an immunoassay for antiviral antibodies to determine whether infection has previously occurred.

Appendix 1: Varieties of coronaviruses

Coronaviridae is the name given to a family of viruses with two subfamilies, Letovirinae and Coronavirinae. The latter has four genera, Alphacoronavirus, Betacoronavirus, Gammacoronavirus, and Deltacoronavirus, These include seven coronaviruses that can infect humans (Table 2). Coronaviruses can also infect non-human mammals (Table 3), they can be carried by birds or infect them (Table 4), and they can be carried by bats (Table 5).

Table 2 . Taxonomy of coronaviruses that can cause disease in humans

introduction of covid 19 assignment

Table 3 . Some non-human mammals that can be infected by coronaviruses

introduction of covid 19 assignment

Table 4 . Some birds that can carry or be infected by coronaviruses (gammacoronaviruses and deltacoronaviruses)

introduction of covid 19 assignment

Table 5 . Some coronaviruses carried by bats

introduction of covid 19 assignment

Appendix 2: Meanings of the word “corona”

I have listed the many different meanings of “corona” and some of its derivatives in Table 6 below.

Table 6 . Different meanings of “corona” and some derivatives (based on definitions in the Oxford English Dictionary )

introduction of covid 19 assignment

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CEBM Learning

How to Write About Coronavirus in a College Essay

Students can share how they navigated life during the coronavirus pandemic in a full-length essay or an optional supplement.

Writing About COVID-19 in College Essays

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Experts say students should be honest and not limit themselves to merely their experiences with the pandemic.

The global impact of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, means colleges and prospective students alike are in for an admissions cycle like no other. Both face unprecedented challenges and questions as they grapple with their respective futures amid the ongoing fallout of the pandemic.

Colleges must examine applicants without the aid of standardized test scores for many – a factor that prompted many schools to go test-optional for now . Even grades, a significant component of a college application, may be hard to interpret with some high schools adopting pass-fail classes last spring due to the pandemic. Major college admissions factors are suddenly skewed.

"I can't help but think other (admissions) factors are going to matter more," says Ethan Sawyer, founder of the College Essay Guy, a website that offers free and paid essay-writing resources.

College essays and letters of recommendation , Sawyer says, are likely to carry more weight than ever in this admissions cycle. And many essays will likely focus on how the pandemic shaped students' lives throughout an often tumultuous 2020.

But before writing a college essay focused on the coronavirus, students should explore whether it's the best topic for them.

Writing About COVID-19 for a College Application

Much of daily life has been colored by the coronavirus. Virtual learning is the norm at many colleges and high schools, many extracurriculars have vanished and social lives have stalled for students complying with measures to stop the spread of COVID-19.

"For some young people, the pandemic took away what they envisioned as their senior year," says Robert Alexander, dean of admissions, financial aid and enrollment management at the University of Rochester in New York. "Maybe that's a spot on a varsity athletic team or the lead role in the fall play. And it's OK for them to mourn what should have been and what they feel like they lost, but more important is how are they making the most of the opportunities they do have?"

That question, Alexander says, is what colleges want answered if students choose to address COVID-19 in their college essay.

But the question of whether a student should write about the coronavirus is tricky. The answer depends largely on the student.

"In general, I don't think students should write about COVID-19 in their main personal statement for their application," Robin Miller, master college admissions counselor at IvyWise, a college counseling company, wrote in an email.

"Certainly, there may be exceptions to this based on a student's individual experience, but since the personal essay is the main place in the application where the student can really allow their voice to be heard and share insight into who they are as an individual, there are likely many other topics they can choose to write about that are more distinctive and unique than COVID-19," Miller says.

Opinions among admissions experts vary on whether to write about the likely popular topic of the pandemic.

"If your essay communicates something positive, unique, and compelling about you in an interesting and eloquent way, go for it," Carolyn Pippen, principal college admissions counselor at IvyWise, wrote in an email. She adds that students shouldn't be dissuaded from writing about a topic merely because it's common, noting that "topics are bound to repeat, no matter how hard we try to avoid it."

Above all, she urges honesty.

"If your experience within the context of the pandemic has been truly unique, then write about that experience, and the standing out will take care of itself," Pippen says. "If your experience has been generally the same as most other students in your context, then trying to find a unique angle can easily cross the line into exploiting a tragedy, or at least appearing as though you have."

But focusing entirely on the pandemic can limit a student to a single story and narrow who they are in an application, Sawyer says. "There are so many wonderful possibilities for what you can say about yourself outside of your experience within the pandemic."

He notes that passions, strengths, career interests and personal identity are among the multitude of essay topic options available to applicants and encourages them to probe their values to help determine the topic that matters most to them – and write about it.

That doesn't mean the pandemic experience has to be ignored if applicants feel the need to write about it.

Writing About Coronavirus in Main and Supplemental Essays

Students can choose to write a full-length college essay on the coronavirus or summarize their experience in a shorter form.

To help students explain how the pandemic affected them, The Common App has added an optional section to address this topic. Applicants have 250 words to describe their pandemic experience and the personal and academic impact of COVID-19.

"That's not a trick question, and there's no right or wrong answer," Alexander says. Colleges want to know, he adds, how students navigated the pandemic, how they prioritized their time, what responsibilities they took on and what they learned along the way.

If students can distill all of the above information into 250 words, there's likely no need to write about it in a full-length college essay, experts say. And applicants whose lives were not heavily altered by the pandemic may even choose to skip the optional COVID-19 question.

"This space is best used to discuss hardship and/or significant challenges that the student and/or the student's family experienced as a result of COVID-19 and how they have responded to those difficulties," Miller notes. Using the section to acknowledge a lack of impact, she adds, "could be perceived as trite and lacking insight, despite the good intentions of the applicant."

To guard against this lack of awareness, Sawyer encourages students to tap someone they trust to review their writing , whether it's the 250-word Common App response or the full-length essay.

Experts tend to agree that the short-form approach to this as an essay topic works better, but there are exceptions. And if a student does have a coronavirus story that he or she feels must be told, Alexander encourages the writer to be authentic in the essay.

"My advice for an essay about COVID-19 is the same as my advice about an essay for any topic – and that is, don't write what you think we want to read or hear," Alexander says. "Write what really changed you and that story that now is yours and yours alone to tell."

Sawyer urges students to ask themselves, "What's the sentence that only I can write?" He also encourages students to remember that the pandemic is only a chapter of their lives and not the whole book.

Miller, who cautions against writing a full-length essay on the coronavirus, says that if students choose to do so they should have a conversation with their high school counselor about whether that's the right move. And if students choose to proceed with COVID-19 as a topic, she says they need to be clear, detailed and insightful about what they learned and how they adapted along the way.

"Approaching the essay in this manner will provide important balance while demonstrating personal growth and vulnerability," Miller says.

Pippen encourages students to remember that they are in an unprecedented time for college admissions.

"It is important to keep in mind with all of these (admission) factors that no colleges have ever had to consider them this way in the selection process, if at all," Pippen says. "They have had very little time to calibrate their evaluations of different application components within their offices, let alone across institutions. This means that colleges will all be handling the admissions process a little bit differently, and their approaches may even evolve over the course of the admissions cycle."

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Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

This book was written by students at Clemson University involved in an STS 1010 course during the Fall of 2020 and the Spring of 2021.

Students were given an opportunity to choose their own topics and related the course content of science, technology and society to their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each chapter includes information about a topic related to COVID-19 as well as voices from Clemson students.

To the extent possible under law, Yang Wu; Allie Messenger; Arnaut Aguilar; Ashley Bui; Ava Kramer; Ben Jablonski; Blake Busking; Blake Moore; Carrie Pohlman; Brenna Turpin; Brooke Baker; Caroline Edwards; Chris Leroux; Claudia Sisk; Clayton Trentham; Davey Crouch; Eli Packer; Elle Wagner; Eliza Nix; Ellie Vensel; Erin Kennedy; Emily Cleveland; Ethan May; Ethan Hirsch; Frances Laughlin; George Easter; Grace Arnold; Grace D'Egidio; Grace Towe; Hope Wilde; Jack Sanford; Jake Brazinski; Jason McNult; Jason Saadeh; John Fuller; John Griffen; Julia Wood; Kasey Kiser; Katie Herbolsheimer; Katrina Campos; Kerrigan Donnelly; Kierstyn Stevens; Laurence Innes; Luke Dotson; Macey Coulter; Marco Guareschi; Meg Botts; Michael Havasy; Mikel Zoeller; Mitchell Wallin; Patrick Reed; Reagan Beach; Ryan Cook; Ryan Kennedy; Spencer Dalley; Steffen Merkle; Tayler Smith; Thomas Williams; Tim Egan; Tres Key; Tyler Parker; Virginia Lundeen; Will Gosnell; William Carroll; and Zoe Sabbert have waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to COVID 19: A Student Perspective , except where otherwise noted.

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  • 8.4 Annotated Student Sample: "U.S. Response to COVID-19" by Trevor Garcia
  • 1 Unit Introduction

Introduction

  • 1.1 "Reading" to Understand and Respond
  • 1.2 Social Media Trailblazer: Selena Gomez
  • 1.3 Glance at Critical Response: Rhetoric and Critical Thinking
  • 1.4 Annotated Student Sample: Social Media Post and Responses on Voter Suppression
  • 1.5 Writing Process: Thinking Critically About a “Text”
  • 1.6 Evaluation: Intention vs. Execution
  • 1.7 Spotlight on … Academia
  • 1.8 Portfolio: Tracing Writing Development
  • Further Reading
  • Works Cited
  • 2.1 Seeds of Self
  • 2.2 Identity Trailblazer: Cathy Park Hong
  • 2.3 Glance at the Issues: Oppression and Reclamation
  • 2.4 Annotated Sample Reading from The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois
  • 2.5 Writing Process: Thinking Critically about How Identity Is Constructed Through Writing
  • 2.6 Evaluation: Antiracism and Inclusivity
  • 2.7 Spotlight on … Variations of English
  • 2.8 Portfolio: Decolonizing Self
  • 3.1 Identity and Expression
  • 3.2 Literacy Narrative Trailblazer: Tara Westover
  • 3.3 Glance at Genre: The Literacy Narrative
  • 3.4 Annotated Sample Reading: from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
  • 3.5 Writing Process: Tracing the Beginnings of Literacy
  • 3.6 Editing Focus: Sentence Structure
  • 3.7 Evaluation: Self-Evaluating
  • 3.8 Spotlight on … The Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives (DALN)
  • 3.9 Portfolio: A Literacy Artifact
  • Works Consulted
  • 2 Unit Introduction
  • 4.1 Exploring the Past to Understand the Present
  • 4.2 Memoir Trailblazer: Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • 4.3 Glance at Genre: Conflict, Detail, and Revelation
  • 4.4 Annotated Sample Reading: from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain
  • 4.5 Writing Process: Making the Personal Public
  • 4.6 Editing Focus: More on Characterization and Point of View
  • 4.7 Evaluation: Structure and Organization
  • 4.8 Spotlight on … Multilingual Writers
  • 4.9 Portfolio: Filtered Memories
  • 5.1 Profiles as Inspiration
  • 5.2 Profile Trailblazer: Veronica Chambers
  • 5.3 Glance at Genre: Subject, Angle, Background, and Description
  • 5.4 Annotated Sample Reading: “Remembering John Lewis” by Carla D. Hayden
  • 5.5 Writing Process: Focusing on the Angle of Your Subject
  • 5.6 Editing Focus: Verb Tense Consistency
  • 5.7 Evaluation: Text as Personal Introduction
  • 5.8 Spotlight on … Profiling a Cultural Artifact
  • 5.9 Portfolio: Subject as a Reflection of Self
  • 6.1 Proposing Change: Thinking Critically About Problems and Solutions
  • 6.2 Proposal Trailblazer: Atul Gawande
  • 6.3 Glance at Genre: Features of Proposals
  • 6.4 Annotated Student Sample: “Slowing Climate Change” by Shawn Krukowski
  • 6.5 Writing Process: Creating a Proposal
  • 6.6 Editing Focus: Subject-Verb Agreement
  • 6.7 Evaluation: Conventions, Clarity, and Coherence
  • 6.8 Spotlight on … Technical Writing as a Career
  • 6.9 Portfolio: Reflecting on Problems and Solutions
  • 7.1 Thumbs Up or Down?
  • 7.2 Review Trailblazer: Michiko Kakutani
  • 7.3 Glance at Genre: Criteria, Evidence, Evaluation
  • 7.4 Annotated Student Sample: "Black Representation in Film" by Caelia Marshall
  • 7.5 Writing Process: Thinking Critically About Entertainment
  • 7.6 Editing Focus: Quotations
  • 7.7 Evaluation: Effect on Audience
  • 7.8 Spotlight on … Language and Culture
  • 7.9 Portfolio: What the Arts Say About You
  • 8.1 Information and Critical Thinking
  • 8.2 Analytical Report Trailblazer: Barbara Ehrenreich
  • 8.3 Glance at Genre: Informal and Formal Analytical Reports
  • 8.5 Writing Process: Creating an Analytical Report
  • 8.6 Editing Focus: Commas with Nonessential and Essential Information
  • 8.7 Evaluation: Reviewing the Final Draft
  • 8.8 Spotlight on … Discipline-Specific and Technical Language
  • 8.9 Portfolio: Evidence and Objectivity
  • 9.1 Breaking the Whole into Its Parts
  • 9.2 Rhetorical Analysis Trailblazer: Jamil Smith
  • 9.3 Glance at Genre: Rhetorical Strategies
  • 9.4 Annotated Student Sample: “Rhetorical Analysis: Evicted by Matthew Desmond” by Eliana Evans
  • 9.5 Writing Process: Thinking Critically about Rhetoric
  • 9.6 Editing Focus: Mixed Sentence Constructions
  • 9.7 Evaluation: Rhetorical Analysis
  • 9.8 Spotlight on … Business and Law
  • 9.9 Portfolio: How Thinking Critically about Rhetoric Affects Intellectual Growth
  • 10.1 Making a Case: Defining a Position Argument
  • 10.2 Position Argument Trailblazer: Charles Blow
  • 10.3 Glance at Genre: Thesis, Reasoning, and Evidence
  • 10.4 Annotated Sample Reading: "Remarks at the University of Michigan" by Lyndon B. Johnson
  • 10.5 Writing Process: Creating a Position Argument
  • 10.6 Editing Focus: Paragraphs and Transitions
  • 10.7 Evaluation: Varied Appeals
  • 10.8 Spotlight on … Citation
  • 10.9 Portfolio: Growth in the Development of Argument
  • 11.1 Developing Your Sense of Logic
  • 11.2 Reasoning Trailblazer: Paul D. N. Hebert
  • 11.3 Glance at Genre: Reasoning Strategies and Signal Words
  • 11.4 Annotated Sample Reading: from Book VII of The Republic by Plato
  • 11.5 Writing Process: Reasoning Supported by Evidence
  • 12.1 Introducing Research and Research Evidence
  • 12.2 Argumentative Research Trailblazer: Samin Nosrat
  • 12.3 Glance at Genre: Introducing Research as Evidence
  • 12.4 Annotated Student Sample: "Healthy Diets from Sustainable Sources Can Save the Earth" by Lily Tran
  • 12.5 Writing Process: Integrating Research
  • 12.6 Editing Focus: Integrating Sources and Quotations
  • 12.7 Evaluation: Effectiveness of Research Paper
  • 12.8 Spotlight on … Bias in Language and Research
  • 12.9 Portfolio: Why Facts Matter in Research Argumentation
  • 13.1 The Research Process: Where to Look for Existing Sources
  • 13.2 The Research Process: How to Create Sources
  • 13.3 Glance at the Research Process: Key Skills
  • 13.4 Annotated Student Sample: Research Log
  • 13.5 Research Process: Making Notes, Synthesizing Information, and Keeping a Research Log
  • 13.6 Spotlight on … Ethical Research
  • 14.1 Compiling Sources for an Annotated Bibliography
  • 14.2 Glance at Form: Citation Style, Purpose, and Formatting
  • 14.3 Annotated Student Sample: “Healthy Diets from Sustainable Sources Can Save the Earth” by Lily Tran
  • 14.4 Writing Process: Informing and Analyzing
  • 15.1 Tracing a Broad Issue in the Individual
  • 15.2 Case Study Trailblazer: Vilayanur S. Ramachandran
  • 15.3 Glance at Genre: Observation, Description, and Analysis
  • 15.4 Annotated Sample Reading: Case Study on Louis Victor "Tan" Leborgne
  • 15.5 Writing Process: Thinking Critically About How People and Language Interact
  • 15.6 Editing Focus: Words Often Confused
  • 15.7 Evaluation: Presentation and Analysis of Case Study
  • 15.8 Spotlight on … Applied Linguistics
  • 15.9 Portfolio: Your Own Uses of Language
  • 3 Unit Introduction
  • 16.1 An Author’s Choices: What Text Says and How It Says It
  • 16.2 Textual Analysis Trailblazer: bell hooks
  • 16.3 Glance at Genre: Print or Textual Analysis
  • 16.4 Annotated Student Sample: "Artists at Work" by Gwyn Garrison
  • 16.5 Writing Process: Thinking Critically About Text
  • 16.6 Editing Focus: Literary Works Live in the Present
  • 16.7 Evaluation: Self-Directed Assessment
  • 16.8 Spotlight on … Humanities
  • 16.9 Portfolio: The Academic and the Personal
  • 17.1 “Reading” Images
  • 17.2 Image Trailblazer: Sara Ludy
  • 17.3 Glance at Genre: Relationship Between Image and Rhetoric
  • 17.4 Annotated Student Sample: “Hints of the Homoerotic” by Leo Davis
  • 17.5 Writing Process: Thinking Critically and Writing Persuasively About Images
  • 17.6 Editing Focus: Descriptive Diction
  • 17.7 Evaluation: Relationship Between Analysis and Image
  • 17.8 Spotlight on … Video and Film
  • 17.9 Portfolio: Interplay Between Text and Image
  • 18.1 Mixing Genres and Modes
  • 18.2 Multimodal Trailblazer: Torika Bolatagici
  • 18.3 Glance at Genre: Genre, Audience, Purpose, Organization
  • 18.4 Annotated Sample Reading: “Celebrating a Win-Win” by Alexandra Dapolito Dunn
  • 18.5 Writing Process: Create a Multimodal Advocacy Project
  • 18.6 Evaluation: Transitions
  • 18.7 Spotlight on . . . Technology
  • 18.8 Portfolio: Multimodalism
  • 19.1 Writing, Speaking, and Activism
  • 19.2 Podcast Trailblazer: Alice Wong
  • 19.3 Glance at Genre: Language Performance and Visuals
  • 19.4 Annotated Student Sample: “Are New DOT Regulations Discriminatory?” by Zain A. Kumar
  • 19.5 Writing Process: Writing to Speak
  • 19.6 Evaluation: Bridging Writing and Speaking
  • 19.7 Spotlight on … Delivery/Public Speaking
  • 19.8 Portfolio: Everyday Rhetoric, Rhetoric Every Day
  • 20.1 Thinking Critically about Your Semester
  • 20.2 Reflection Trailblazer: Sandra Cisneros
  • 20.3 Glance at Genre: Purpose and Structure
  • 20.4 Annotated Sample Reading: “Don’t Expect Congrats” by Dale Trumbore
  • 20.5 Writing Process: Looking Back, Looking Forward
  • 20.6 Editing Focus: Pronouns
  • 20.7 Evaluation: Evaluating Self-Reflection
  • 20.8 Spotlight on … Pronouns in Context

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

  • Identify the genre conventions of an informal analytical report.
  • Analyze the organizational structure of a report and how writers develop ideas.
  • Recognize how writers use evidence and objectivity to build credibility.
  • Identify sources of evidence within a text and in source citations.

The analytical report that follows was written by a student, Trevor Garcia, for a first-year composition course. Trevor’s assignment was to research and analyze a contemporary issue in terms of its causes or effects. He chose to analyze the causes behind the large numbers of COVID-19 infections and deaths in the United States in 2020. The report is structured as an essay, and its format is informal.

Living by Their Own Words

Successes and failures.

student sample text With more than 83 million cases and 1.8 million deaths at the end of 2020, COVID-19 has turned the world upside down. By the end of 2020, the United States led the world in the number of cases, at more than 20 million infections and nearly 350,000 deaths. In comparison, the second-highest number of cases was in India, which at the end of 2020 had less than half the number of COVID-19 cases despite having a population four times greater than the U.S. (“COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic,” 2021). How did the United States come to have the world’s worst record in this pandemic? An examination of the U.S. response shows that a reduction of experts in key positions and programs, inaction that led to equipment shortages, and inconsistent policies were three major causes of the spread of the virus and the resulting deaths. end student sample text

annotated text Introduction. Informal reports follow essay structure and open with an overview. end annotated text

annotated text Statistics as Evidence. The writer gives statistics about infection rates and numbers of deaths; a comparison provides context. end annotated text

annotated text Source Citation in APA Style: No Author. A web page without a named author is cited by the title and the year. end annotated text

annotated text Thesis Statement. The rhetorical question leads to the thesis statement in the last sentence of the introduction. The thesis statement previews the organization and indicates the purpose—to analyze the causes of the U.S. response to the virus. end annotated text

Reductions in Expert Personnel and Preparedness Programs

annotated text Headings. This heading and those that follow mark sections of the report. end annotated text

annotated text Body. The three paragraphs under this heading support the first main point in the thesis statement. end annotated text

student sample text Epidemiologists and public health officials in the United States had long known that a global pandemic was possible. end student sample text

annotated text Topic Sentence. The paragraph opens with a sentence stating the topic. The rest of this paragraph and the two that follow develop the topic chronologically. end annotated text

student sample text In 2016, the National Security Council (NSC) published Playbook for Early Response to High-Consequence Emerging Infectious Disease Threats and Biological Incidents , a 69-page document on responding to diseases spreading within and outside of the United States. On January 13, 2017, the joint transition teams of outgoing president Barack Obama and then president-elect Donald Trump performed a pandemic preparedness exercise based on the playbook; however, it was never adopted by the incoming administration (Goodman & Schulkin, 2020). A year later, in February 2018, the Trump administration began to cut funding for the Prevention and Public Health Fund at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, leaving key positions unfilled. Other individuals who were fired or resigned in 2018 were the homeland security adviser, whose portfolio included global pandemics; the director for medical and biodefense preparedness; and the top official in charge of a pandemic response. None of them were replaced, thus leaving the White House with no senior person who had experience in public health (Goodman & Schulkin, 2020). Experts voiced concerns, among them Luciana Borio, director of medical and biodefense preparedness at the NSC, who spoke at a symposium marking the centennial of the 1918 influenza pandemic in May 2018: “The threat of pandemic flu is the number one health security concern,” she said. “Are we ready to respond? I fear the answer is no” (Sun, 2018, final para.). end student sample text

annotated text Audience. The writer assumes that his readers have a strong grasp of government and agencies within the government. end annotated text

annotated text Synthesis. The paragraph synthesizes factual evidence from two sources and cites them in APA style. end annotated text

annotated text Expert Quotation as Supporting Evidence. The expert’s credentials are given, her exact words are placed in quotation marks, and the source is cited in parentheses. end annotated text

annotated text Source Citation in APA Style: No Page Numbers. Because the source of the quotation has no page numbers, the specific paragraph within the source (“final para.”; alternatively, “para. 18”) is provided in the parenthetical citation. end annotated text

student sample text Cuts continued in 2019, among them a maintenance contract for ventilators in the federal emergency supply and PREDICT, a U.S. agency for international development designed to identify and prevent pandemics (Goodman & Schulkin, 2020). In July 2019, the White House eliminated the position of an American public health official in Beijing, China, who was working with China’s disease control agency to help detect and contain infectious diseases. The first case of COVID-19 emerged in China four months later, on November 17, 2019. end student sample text

annotated text Development of First Main Point. This paragraph continues the chronological development of the first point, using a transitional sentence and evidence to discuss the year 2019. end annotated text

student sample text After the first U.S. coronavirus case was confirmed in 2020, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was named to lead a task force on a response, but after several months, he was replaced when then vice president Mike Pence was officially charged with leading the White House Coronavirus Task Force (Ballhaus & Armour, 2020). Experts who remained, including Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health, were sidelined. Turnover of personnel in related government departments and agencies continued throughout 2020, leaving the country without experts in key positions to lead the pandemic response. end student sample text

annotated text Development of First Main Point. This paragraph continues the chronological development of the first point, using a transitional sentence and evidence to discuss the start of the pandemic in 2020. end annotated text

Inaction and Equipment Shortages

annotated text Body. The three paragraphs under this heading support the second main point in the thesis statement. end annotated text

student sample text In January and February of 2020, the president’s daily brief included more than a dozen detailed warnings, based on wire intercepts, computer intercepts, and satellite images by the U.S. intelligence community (Miller & Nakashima, 2020). Although senior officials began to assemble a task force, no direct action was taken until mid-March. end student sample text

annotated text Topic Sentences. The paragraph opens with two sentences stating the topic that is developed in the following paragraphs. end annotated text

student sample text The stockpile of medical equipment and personal protective equipment was dangerously low before the pandemic began. Although the federal government had paid $9.8 million to manufacturers in 2018 and 2019 to develop and produce protective masks, by April 2020 the government had not yet received a single mask (Swaine, 2020). Despite the low stockpile, a request by the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in early 2020 to begin contacting companies about possible shortages of necessary medical equipment, including personal protective equipment, was denied. This decision was made to avoid alarming the industry and the public and to avoid giving the impression that the administration was not prepared for the pandemic (Ballhaus & Armour, 2020). end student sample text

annotated text Topic Sentence. The paragraph opens with a sentence stating the topic that is developed in the paragraph. end annotated text

annotated text Objective Stance. The writer presents evidence (facts, statistics, and examples) in mostly neutral, unemotional language, which builds trustworthiness, or ethos , with readers. end annotated text

annotated text Synthesis. The paragraph synthesizes factual evidence from two sources. end annotated text

student sample text When former President Trump declared a national emergency on March 13, federal agencies began placing bulk orders for masks and other medical equipment. These orders led to critical shortages throughout the nation. In addition, states were instructed to acquire their own equipment and found themselves bidding against each other for the limited supplies available, leading one head of a coronavirus team composed of consulting and private equity firms to remark that “the federal stockpile was . . . supposed to be our stockpile. It’s not supposed to be states’ stockpiles that they then use” (Goodman & Schulkin, 2020, April 2, 2020). end student sample text

Policy Decisions

annotated text Body. The paragraph under this heading addresses the third main point in the thesis statement. end annotated text

student sample text Policy decisions, too, hampered the U.S. response to the pandemic. end student sample text

student sample text Although the HHS and NSC recommended stay-at-home directives on February 14, directives and guidelines for social distancing were not announced until March 16, and guidelines for mask wearing were inconsistent and contradictory (Goodman & Schulkin, 2020). Implementing the recommendations was left to the discretion of state governors, resulting in uneven stay-at-home orders, business closures, school closures, and mask mandates from state to state. The lack of a consistent message from the federal government not only delegated responsibility to state and local governments but also encouraged individuals to make their own choices, further hampering containment efforts. Seeing government officials and politicians without masks, for example, led many people to conclude that masks were unnecessary. Seeing large groups of people standing together at political rallies led people to ignore social distancing in their own lives. end student sample text

annotated text Synthesis. The paragraph synthesizes factual evidence from a source and examples drawn from the writer’s observation. end annotated text

student sample text Although the first cases of COVID-19 were detected in the United States in January, genetic researchers later determined that the viral strain responsible for sustained transmission of the disease did not enter the country until around February 13 (Branswell, 2020), providing further evidence that the failed U.S. response to the pandemic could have been prevented. Cuts to public health staff reduced the number of experts in leadership positions. Inaction in the early months of the pandemic led to critical shortages of medical equipment and supplies. Mixed messages and inconsistent policies undermined efforts to control and contain the disease. Unfortunately, the response to the disease in 2020 cannot be changed, but 2021 looks brighter. Most people who want the vaccine—nonexistent at the beginning of the pandemic and unavailable until recently—will have received it by the end of 2021. Americans will have experienced two years of living with the coronavirus, and everyone will have been affected in some way. end student sample text

annotated text Conclusion. The report concludes with a restatement of the main points given in the thesis and points to the future. end annotated text

Ballhaus, R., & Armour, S. (2020, April 22). Health chief’s early missteps set back coronavirus response. Wall Street Journal . https://www.wsj.com/articles/health-chiefs-early-missteps-set-back-coronavirus-response-11587570514

Branswell, H. (2020, May 26). New research rewrites history of when COVID-19 took off in the U.S.—and points to missed chances to stop it . STAT. https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/26/new-research-rewrites-history-of-when-covid-19-arrived-in-u-s-and-points-to-missed-chances-to-stop-it/

COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic . (2021, January 13). Worldometer. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

Goodman, R., & Schulkin, D. (2020, November 3). Timeline of the coronavirus pandemic and U.S. response . Just Security. https://www.justsecurity.org/69650/timeline-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic-and-u-s-response/

Miller, G., & Nakashima, E. (2020, April 27). President’s intelligence briefing book repeatedly cited virus threat. Washington Post . https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/presidents-intelligence-briefing-book-repeatedly-cited-virus-threat/2020/04/27/ca66949a-8885-11ea-ac8a-fe9b8088e101_story.html

Sun, L. H. (2018, May 10). Top White House official in charge of pandemic response exits abruptly. Washington Post . https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/05/10/top-white-house-official-in-charge-of-pandemic-response-exits-abruptly/

Swaine, J. (2020, April 3). Federal government spent millions to ramp up mask readiness, but that isn’t helping now. Washington Post . https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/federal-government-spent-millions-to-ramp-up-mask-readiness-but-that-isnt-helping-now/2020/04/03/d62dda5c-74fa-11ea-a9bd-9f8b593300d0_story.html

annotated text References Page in APA Style. All sources cited in the text of the report, and only those sources, are listed in alphabetical order with full publication information. See the Handbook for more on APA documentation style. end annotated text

Discussion Questions

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Resources: Course Assignments

Module 2 Assignment: Exploring COVID-19 Data Graphically

Open pedagogy assignments.

Assignments in which students use their agency and creativity to create knowledge artifacts that can support their own learning, their classmates’ learning, and the learning of students around the world. (See this  peer-reviewed article  for more details.) Each of the assignments on this page is aligned to a  learning outcome of Concepts in Statistics  and we’ve identified the module where the reading appears. All of the assignments can be created with a cell phone camera or any video recording device, Google or Word documents, and your learning management system.

Learning Outcome 2.1-2.6: Exploring COVID-19 Data Graphically

Recall the initial steps to a statistical investigation:

  • Devise a research question
  • Produce data
  • Explore the data

In this activity, we will practice the crucial step of making some initial sense of data so that it can be usefully interpreted. You will also have the chance to share this data with people outside the course who may find it helpful. One set of data that is relevant to us all is about the COVID-19 pandemic and the spread of the virus that causes it has radically changed our lives. Media outlets and research institutions have tried to help us understand the data surrounding the pandemic, such as the  Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University .

Instructions:

STEP 1: Go to the  US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website  and explore the data that is made publicly available there.

STEP 2: Move on to  the CDC’s data visualization tool . Notice the various dimensions of the COVID Case Surveillance Data you can display in the top drop-down menu at the left, including race and ethnicity, age group, and sex. Take a closer look at this national data in the category of your choice, and display it in a “column chart” (histogram) view. Notice the column labels, how are they ordered? Take a screenshot of the histogram.

STEP 3: Now take a look at the latest data on the age distribution of COVID-19 cases of your state. In a search engine, enter your state name and “COVID data” to find data from a state website. How does your state’s data compare to the national distribution?

STEP 4: Use these two histograms to illustrate a short presentation. In your presentation, describe the distribution of the ages of positive cases and highlight the similarities and differences between the two datasets.

STEP 5: Make a short recording of the presentation and share it with your instructor. Your instructor will then share the recordings with the class, so that you can all discuss and share.

A Note To Teachers:  This activity lends itself well to both individual and small group work. The first time your students complete this assignment, choose the best ones and ask students for permission to include them in future sections. In the first term, students will create videos, and with their permission, you can upload them into your course in order to show examples for the next term. The idea is to have students generate content that other students can learn from in this assignment.

Further, consider having students post their screenshots, links to legitimate data sources, and a very short “headline” to a social media platform. Help students learn to find and share data!

Concepts in Statistics Copyright © 2023 by CUNY School of Professional Studies is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Final Project on Introduction to R Programming for Data Science, being part of a course series by IBM Skills Network and available on Coursera.

fesomadealli/Covid-19-R

Folders and files, repository files navigation.

This file contains the final project on the Introduction to R Programming for Data Science course by IBM Skills Network and available on Coursera. This project does not include data visualiazation exercises and ittle to no emphasis is placed on data wrangling. Rather, it focuses on the basic steps in R programming as relating to Data Science. The exercises in the notebook are constrained to a set of 10 tasks that tests basic knowledge of R programming relating to data science and as such, in-depth data analysis was not done. Submissions were done by uploading screenshots via the Coursera classroom portal for peer grading.

Practice Analysis on Coursera COVID-19 Dataset

This file contains the final project on the Introduction to R Programming for Data Science course by IBM Skills Network and available on Coursera. The final project comes after a series of ungraded lab exercises that help practice skills relevant to R programming for Data Science.

Brief Description

This project does not include data visualiazation exercises and ittle to no emphasis is placed on data wrangling. Rather, it focuses on the basic steps in R programming as relating to Data Science. The exercises in the notebook are constrained to a set of 10 tasks that tests basic knowledge of R programming relating to data science and as such, in-depth data analysis was not done.

Should a student, fail to scrape the required table successfully, the TASK 4: Get a subset of the extracted data frame phase of the project provides a way of him/her getting an already processed csv file to use for the remainder of the task. Although, failure to complete the earlier tasks might earn such student 0 pts on such tasks in his peer-graded assessment.

The dataset is also uploaded. Dataset was scraped off a Wikipedia page and contains information on the COVID-19 pandemic from 172 different countries and across 9 different columns. A local version of the webpage is also uploaded.

  • Webscraping in R
  • Data Wrangling
  • Regular Expression
  • Vector Operations in R
  • And few more R Programming concepts
  • Jupyter Notebook 56.0%

COVID-19 Impact Project

Assignments

The following projects document assignments and classroom activities designed during the pandemic. These are either assignments that have been created or altered to adjust for the pandemic’s impact, or to capture the impact of the pandemic on students. Please follow the links below to find out more about each participant and their projects. The list is organized alphabetically.

LENNAY M. CHAPMAN | PH.D. PROGRAM IN MARKETING (BARUCH/GC CUNY) | CONTACT: [email protected] |  EXPLORE LENNAY’S PROJECT

Bio:  Lennay Chapman holds an MBA from Baruch College and currently is a fourth-year Ph.D. Candidate in Marketing at Baruch College and The Graduate Center, CUNY. She teaches Marketing Foundations, which is a course that introduces students across all business majors to fundamental marketing concepts. Lennay’s academic research examines the impact of technology on consumer behavior, and has been presented at the Society for Consumer Psychology (SCP) conference. Before transitioning to academia, Lennay spent nearly a decade working in merchandise planning and allocation for companies including Ann Taylor, LOFT, and Ross Stores; she also wrote articles for The Motley Fool.

Project description:  While COVID-19 has created countless challenges for educators, it also has contributed learnings and opportunities through novel teaching methods. In this reflection, I identify one unexpected opportunity associated with Zoom-mediated teaching: increased student engagement through the chat feature. The chat feature enables students to participate in an unobtrusive way, and can facilitate frequent, enthusiastic participation (when combined with questions and calls for examples). This reflection is designed for other educators who may not be using the chat feature to increase engagement. I also am sharing my experience to capture one way in which COVID-19 has impacted higher education.

MAXINE KRENZEL | PH.D. PROGRAM IN ENGLISH |  EXPLORE MAXINE’S PROJECT

Bio:  Maxine is a sixth year Ph.D. Candidate in English with a focus in composition-rhetoric. My research interests are in the history and pedagogy of teacher education, literacy studies, writing pedagogy, autobiography theory, and the history of composition studies as a discipline. I currently teach the First Year Writing Sequence at Baruch College and am a Writing Across the Curriculum Fellow at Bronx Community College where I am developing writing intensive training curricula for new teachers across disciplines.

Project description:  I am sharing an archival research assignment I developed last spring that asks students to research an artifact through the CUNY Digital History Archive. In this assignment, students consider the importance of a chosen artifact in relation to CUNY’s history of student activism and to their experience as CUNY students today. I offer this as a resource for any instructor interested in teaching archival research skills while we don’t have physical access to CUNY’s libraries. I found that asking students to conceive of historiography as a form of storytelling opens up pertinent questions regarding how to locate oneself in a still unfolding history and how student voices are essential to telling and documenting the story of the present.

SOOHYUN (ASHLEY) LEE | PH.D. PROGRAM INDUSTRIAL-ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY (BARUCH/GC CUNY) | CONTACT: [email protected] |  EXPLORE SOOHYUN’S PROJECT

Bio:  Soohyn (she/her) is a Ph.D. Candidate in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Baruch College and The Graduate Center, CUNY. I research workplace emotions and motivations. I am teaching Social Psychology (PSY3056) and Advanced Organizational Psychology (PSY4181) at Baruch College, and teaching Industrial-Organizational Psychology (PSY240) at Lehman College.

Project description:  During the pandemic, many students struggle with being on track with assignments and exams. I have created an “online checklist” that students can easily check upcoming assignments and important deadlines and be more organized in their learning. Moreover, I have shared class discussion questions that students reflect on the current pandemic situation through psychology perspectives (topics: virtual teams, leadership in crisis, diversity & inclusion). Finally, I have included an essay assignment that students apply course contents to the pandemic situation. Through this assignment, students think deeply about how organizations can help their employees stay engaged while working from home.

SARAH MADY | PH.D. PROGRAM IN ANTHROPOLOGY | CONTACT: [email protected] |  EXPLORE SARAH’S PROJECT

Bio:  I teach Ancient Peoples and Cultures (ANT212) at Lehman College, Department of Anthropology. I am also a Ph.D. Candidate in Archaeology at The Graduate Center, CUNY, and an art teacher at Hudson Montessori School. During the March lockdown, many schools did not offer online art classes for children. At first, I wanted to help my students who are parents by offering their children free art classes, but then I realized they were enjoying them just as much. The objective was for the children to keep creating, and for the parents to be inspired by new ideas and projects for their little ones.

Project description:  For this collection, I chose the Zentangles over a hand tracing. This project could be used as a resource for others to use in their classrooms. It could be scheduled once a month at the end of class, for those interested. Since it requires minimal drawing skills, it is engaging for all levels and ages. Many of us do not have the means to pay for art classes, which don’t need to teach us how to draw, but at least offer simple yet therapeutic projects. These meetings allowed us to meet informally and have some much-needed fun at the time.

ASHLEY MARINACCIO | PH.D. PROGRAM IN THEATRE AND PERFORMANCE | CONTACT: [email protected] |  EXPLORE ASHLEY’S PROJECT

Bio:  Ashley Marinaccio (she/her) is a New York-based documentarian dedicated to shedding light on the socio-political issues that define our times. Currently, she is a Ph.D. Candidate in Theatre and Performance at The Graduate Center, CUNY where she researches documentary theatre and theatre performance in war zones. She has taught Theatre and Social Justice, Theatre of the Oppressed, Ensemble Devised Theatre, and various other classes that explore the role of theatre within social justice and political movements. You can learn more about her work at ashley-marinaccio.com.

Project description:  I am sharing a documentary theatre project I assigned in both my Introduction to Theatre (THEA 10100) at Hunter College and Theatre and Social Change at Pace University. Drawing from oral history, theatre, and film techniques, students were asked to create short documentary theatre pieces about coronavirus based on interviews and testimonies they collect from people in their communities. Students edited these testimonies to create a short play that they performed via Zoom. Many students interviewed family members, essential workers, and healthcare workers to create a tapestry of voices at the frontline of the pandemic in New York. The pieces in conversation with each other highlighted the hardships, realities, and resilience of the students during the pandemic.

Many of my students were also essential workers, taking care of sick and dying family members, and working full-time in addition to attending school. The documentary theatre pieces created by students captured how this moment is impacting their communities. I am sharing this assignment as a reflection to capture this moment, and as a tool for others to use in their classrooms. At a time where live theatre is entirely virtual – it is important to share creative theatre methodologies that can be used in the classroom and adaptable for any virtual platform

KYONG MAZZARO | PH.D. PROGRAM IN POLITICAL SCIENCE | CONTACT: @KLMAZZARO (TWITTER) |  EXPLORE KYONG’S PROJECT

Bio:  Kyong Mazzaro is a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at The Graduate Center, CUNY and a Fellow at the PublicsLab, CUNY. In her research, she uses mixed methods to study violence, electoral politics, and media freedom in Latin America. Kyong teaches comparative politics at Brooklyn College and Hunter College.

Project description:  The pandemic pushed me to rethink my teaching and recognize the ways that political science teaching can be exclusionary. In this reflection, I share three teaching strategies that helped my students tap into their experiences to engage with and claim space in the discipline. I make the case that by (1) talking about the racist and exclusionary origins of academic conventions, (2) calling out language gatekeeping, and (3) articulating how there can be no rigor without diversity, we can broaden the scope of our work and make political science more inclusive.

CARLI SNYDER | PH.D. PROGRAM IN HISTORY | CONTACT: [email protected] |  EXPLORE CARLI’S PROJECT

Bio:  Carli Snyder is a Doctoral Student in History at The Graduate Center, CUNY. She researches the politics of Holocaust memorialization and education in the United States during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. At Brooklyn College, she teaches World History courses including the Shaping of the Modern World and Myth and Memory in Modern World History. She has also worked in the Education department at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, where she facilitated school group visits, organized seminars on topics in Holocaust history, and annotated and made video clips out of testimonies from the Museum’s collection.

Project description:  In Spring 2020, I was teaching a course called, “Myth and Memory in Modern World History.” My students and I explored how histories of slavery, colonization, and genocide are remembered globally. I am sharing an assignment my students completed: they suggested artifacts for a future exhibit about COVID-19. Ideas included: a photo of an empty Times Square, a copy of the stimulus check, and a Department of Education record of students borrowing technology for distance learning. This assignment helped me to better understand how my students experienced this historic moment as students, as young people, and as New Yorkers, while it unfolded.

QUEENIE SUKHADIA | PH.D. PROGRAM IN ENGLISH |  EXPLORE QUEENIE’S PROJECT

Bio:  Queenie Sukhadia  (she/her) is a Doctoral Student in the Ph.D. Program in English at The Graduate Center, CUNY. Apart from being a scholar, she is also a creative writer and published a collection of short stories, A City of Sungazers, in 2017. Queenie is also Managing Editor of the Graduate Center newspaper, the Advocate, and works with the PublicsLab as a Mellon Humanities Public Scholar. She is passionate about making humanities scholarship & research available in the public sphere, and her Instagram project at @academiaforall is one way this commitment has taken shape. She holds a BA (with high honors) from Dartmouth College and an MA in English (with distinction) from Georgetown University.

Project description:  Here, I offer a reflection on a project I had assigned to my First Year Writing class, which was disrupted by the pandemic and its social distancing imperative. I provide my students’ thoughts on undertaking this project during this time and my own perspective on supervising it. I want to share this work because: 1) It can serve as a teaching resource. The project is broken up into sequenced activities, which teachers can import into their own courses to creatively build rapport; 2) My reflection also demonstrates how the disruptions caused by the pandemic encourage us all to engage in creative play, which can be a quite generative exercise.

KAREN ZAINO | PH.D. PROGRAM IN URBAN EDUCATION | CONTACT: [email protected] | EXPLORE KAREN’S PROJECT ( PART 1 ;  PART 2 )

Bio:  Karen Zaino is a doctoral student in Urban Education at The Graduate Center, CUNY and a Graduate Teaching Fellow in English Education in the Queens College Secondary Education and Youth Services Department. Prior to graduate study, she was a high school English teacher for 12 years in Philadelphia, PA and Covington, KY. She has also worked as a project researcher for the CUNY Initiative on Immigration and Education, the CUNY-New York State Initiative on Emergent Bilinguals, and the College Access: Research and Action Center. Karen’s research leverages affect theory and critical literacy to re-conceptualize teacher education.

Project description:  Following the Covid-19 outbreak in Spring 2020, our course objectives in Multimodal Writing in the Standards-Based Classroom shifted drastically. My students were first year teachers, and we used the asynchronous course blog and small-group synchronous check-ins as spaces to reflect, empathize, and troubleshoot how to best support their students. Course content shifted to the present moment, rather than pre-assigned texts. For their final project, students created an open access handbook for other English Language Arts teachers. These artifacts demonstrate the community we created together during a difficult period and our shared attempt to create a resource for others.

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Introduction, technology transfer, partnerships, and global production, licensing for global production and distribution, supplementary material.

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Contrasting academic approaches to COVID-19 vaccine production and distribution: What can the Oxford and Texas experiences teach us about pandemic response?

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Conflicts of interest Please see ICMJE form(s) for author conflicts of interest. These have been provided as supplementary materials.

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Jorge L Contreras, Kenneth C Shadlen, Contrasting academic approaches to COVID-19 vaccine production and distribution: What can the Oxford and Texas experiences teach us about pandemic response?, Health Affairs Scholar , Volume 2, Issue 2, February 2024, qxae012, https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxae012

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This article contrasts the different approaches to COVID-19 vaccine development adopted by Oxford University, on one hand, and Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine (collectively, Texas), on the other hand. Texas was praised widely in the press and academic literature for adopting an “open source” approach to vaccine development. Oxford, however, chose to license its vaccine technology to pharmaceutical manufacturer AstraZeneca and received significant public criticism as a result. Yet the Oxford vaccine reached far more individuals in developing countries than the Texas vaccine. We compare the two vaccines' experiences, drawing attention to a constellation of interrelated elements that contribute to a successful vaccine production program, including not only IP licensing, but also timing, technology transfer, and resource mobilization, all in the context of the prevailing funding environments. This comparative analysis sheds light on how the innovation ecosystem functioned during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing useful insights for policy makers and advocates as they prepare for future pandemics and other global health challenges.

In December 2021, approximately 2 years into the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital announced a new COVID-19 vaccine that was authorized for emergency use in India. Unlike the vaccines developed by Moderna, BioNTech, and other private firms (which were also often based on early academic research), the Texas vaccine would not be patented, and instead would be made available for modest fees to manufacturers throughout the developing world. 1 , 2 This “open source” approach to vaccine development attracted widespread praise and resulted in its leaders—Drs. Peter Hotez and Maria Elena Bottazzi—being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. 3

The positive public reaction to the open-source Texas vaccine can be contrasted with the more skeptical public reaction to the vaccine development strategy pursued by Oxford University. Oxford was initially applauded for its commitment to offer nonexclusive, royalty-free licenses of its COVID-19 technologies, but attracted criticism when, in April 2020, it instead granted a royalty-bearing, exclusive license to the global pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca. 4-8 Some academic commentators lumped Oxford together with commercial vaccine manufacturers in exhibiting a “protectionist approach to IP” that limited “the volume and regional spread of production capacity of COVID-19 vaccines, endangering global health efforts,” 9 while others accused Oxford of not sharing the benefits of publicly funded research “fairly and equitably with the global population.” 7 These critiques resonate with broader and longstanding public sentiments that publicly funded research institutions have failed to live up to their public missions by prioritizing the pursuit of commercial gains. 10-13

But, despite the differing public responses to the Texas and Oxford vaccine strategies, their respective results on the ground call for a reassessment. Table 1 compares these 2 approaches along several dimensions, along with 2 of the more prominent commercial vaccine efforts. The Texas vaccine, produced primarily by 1 partner in India and another in Indonesia, has had a total output to date of approximately 100 million doses. By contrast, the Oxford vaccine, produced by a global network of manufacturers, coordinated by AstraZeneca, has had a combined output in excess of 3 billion doses, mostly distributed at low cost in poorer countries. While the Texas effort was lauded for its public spirit, the Oxford vaccine had a greater positive impact on global health, particularly in the developing world.

Comparison of COVID-19 vaccine developer strategies and outcomes.

Abbreviations: EUL/PQ, Emergency Use Listing/Prequalification; WHO, World Health Organization.

a Drug substance only (ie, excluding fill-finish production). Source: Airfinity.

b As of June 2023. Source: Airfinity.

c Source: Airfinity and WHO.

d In January 2024 (as this article was being published), the Texas vaccine received EUL/PQ from the WHO.

In this Policy Inquiry we analyze and compare the trajectories of these 2 university-based projects. We do so without seeking to compare the efficacy of the vaccines, which were tested and approved under different regulatory regimes, making comparison difficult. In our estimation, both vaccines were largely viewed as effective. One measurable factor contributing to the differences in the results of the 2 vaccine projects was timing. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was first authorized for use (in the United Kingdom) on December 30, 2020, and subsequently approved in more than 100 countries by the end of March 2021. In contrast, the Texas vaccine did not receive its first regulatory approval (in India) until December 28, 2021, a full year after Oxford-AstraZeneca—an eternity in terms of pandemic response. On this basis alone, it is not surprising that more doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine were manufactured and administered around the world.

But there were more factors at work than timing alone. An important reason for the difference in production of the 2 vaccines arises from the extent of technology transfer, which should not be considered independently from the institutions’ licensing approaches. Specifically, we consider the role played by Oxford's partnership with AstraZeneca. By digging more deeply into the Oxford–AstraZeneca relationship we observe that this vaccine's contributions to the global vaccination campaign derive from licensing and production strategies that distinguish it from both open-source and traditional commercial approaches. We also point to the importance of studying distinct licensing approaches in the context of the funding environments and ecosystems in which they operate.

Below, we first present a brief overview of the role of patents in the development of biomedical products. We then compare the technology transfer approaches of Oxford-AstraZeneca and Texas. Finally, we look in more detail at the Oxford partnership with AstraZeneca, and the implications of the comparative analysis for the COVID-19 innovation ecosystem.

Patents give their owners exclusive rights to exploit claimed inventions in the countries where the patents are issued. In accordance with the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS), most countries extend patent protection to biological and pharmaceutical products. With respect to biomedical products, such as drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines, patents typically have played important roles in establishing market exclusivity for their owners, enabling them to operate without competition for the period that the patents are in effect and thus charge any price that the market will bear. As a result, these firms can both recoup significant development costs and also earn sizeable profits. Yet, for this reason, patented pharmaceutical products are often beyond the reach of patients in poor countries, where government health budgets are more constrained and large shares of the population often pay out-of-pocket for their medicines. 14

It is not surprising, then, that the prospect of patents on COVID-19 diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics gave rise to concerns from the early days of the pandemic. In response, public and private initiatives were launched to facilitate institutions and firms making their patents and technologies broadly available, 15 , 16 and in late 2020 the WTO began to consider a proposed waiver of its member states’ obligations regarding COVID-related intellectual property (IP). 17

As noted above, the Texas researchers did not patent their vaccine, meaning that any entity could legally produce it anywhere in the world without risk of infringing on their patents. Oxford, by contrast, which well before the pandemic had constructed a patent portfolio on viral vector technologies managed by its spin-out firm (Vaccietch) and the university's technology transfer agent (Oxford University Innovation), licensed its patents on an exclusive basis to AstraZeneca. 6 , 18 Legally, this means that no other entity could make, use, or sell the Oxford vaccine in any country where a patent was issued, without the permission of Oxford and AstraZeneca. At first glance, then, the Oxford strategy resembles that of commercial ventures such as BioNTech, which partnered (at an even earlier stage) with Pfizer to develop and manufacture its mRNA vaccine 19 (see Table 1 ). Yet, as we discuss below, this did not turn out to be the case.

The ability of pharmaceutical firms to produce vaccines at the scale and speed required by pandemic conditions depends on more than the product's patent protection. Access to know-how regarding complex manufacturing, analytic, and quality-control processes is also essential. 20-22 This, in turn, calls for technology transfer: sharing of the full package of trade secrets, data, and know-how that enables regulatory approval, manufacture, and distribution of a final product. Importantly, not all of the know-how that potential partners need is written (often referred to as “codified”), and transferring noncodified, “tacit” knowledge typically requires direct engagement between originators and the recipients of this knowledge.

Technology transfer, in addition to being essential, is also resource-intensive. 23 It has costs in terms of, among other things, identifying partners with appropriate capabilities, helping partners adapt their facilities, teaching the essential steps of production and quality control, and engaging during the course of manufacturing. And given the importance of transferring noncodified knowledge, there are human resource constraints too. To the extent that more recipients, with diverse capabilities and therefore diverse needs, are involved, the requirements on the transferor of technology multiply. 24

Both the Texas and Oxford vaccines were the objects of technology transfer, but to different degrees. Despite the Texas group's identification of its non-patenting strategy as open source, the group did not make manufacturing know-how broadly available to the public, as a developer of open-source software might, 25 but only transferred this information to selected industrial partners in low-income countries. Specifically, the Texas group made a package of testing and design data, as well as ongoing assistance, available to manufacturers in a handful of low-income countries that agreed to abide by specified licensing conditions, including the payment of monetary royalties. Thus, unlike open-source software, which is typically released free of charge in a format that can be used by any programmer familiar with the relevant programming language, sharing the know-how required for vaccine production also required more hands-on guidance and interaction. The Texas approach yielded 2 partnerships of which we are aware: with Biological E in India and Bio Farma in Indonesia, both important global producers that are members of the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network. 26

Oxford, in contrast, relied on AstraZeneca, which transferred technology simultaneously to manufacturing partners in multiple countries. 27 The most important partner in terms of output was the Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine producer (by volume), and which alone ended up accounting for approximately 60% of doses produced. In addition the arrangements with the Serum Institute, AstraZeneca built a global manufacturing network for the vaccine. That is, the Oxford network ended up with 2 types of partners: AstraZeneca as principal licensee, and manufacturers around the globe that participated as sublicensees and contract manufacturers. To be sure, not all of Oxford-AstraZeneca's partnerships were equally successful; some of the partners in the distributed manufacturing network ended up producing comparatively little vaccine. 28 (The reliance on the Serum Institute as the most important source of global supply became problematic in 2021 when the Indian government imposed an export ban.) Yet, the commitment to transfer technology globally stands out: AstraZeneca's engineers shared technology and know-how for drug substance production with 12 partners in Asia (China, India, South Korea, Thailand, Japan) and Latin America (Argentina, Brazil), as well as partners in Australia, Belgium, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States; and multiple additional partners (eg, in Mexico) were trained to execute the final “fill-finish” stages—in sum, 25 different manufacturers in 15 countries. 28-30

If anything, widespread technology transfer of this sort should have been more difficult for the Oxford vaccine than for the Texas vaccine, as Oxford's viral vector approach was at the cutting edge of “digital” genetic vaccines 31 that calls on novel manufacturing processes, while the Texas vaccine's protein-based approach is common throughout the Global South, based on production processes and facilities widely in use. 28 , 32-34 The challenges of transferring technology to bring partners up to speed were almost certainly greater in the case of the Oxford vaccine (though it is worth noting that early in the vaccine development process, before partnering with AstraZeneca, Oxford scientists innovated to simplify the production process in ways that would make more technology transfer possible than otherwise may have been the case 35 ). Yet, the differences in the size of the different vaccines’ manufacturing partnerships and production output are notable.

The differences in the Texas and Oxford vaccines’ outcomes, both the size of the production networks and the volumes of output generated, remind us that technology transfer entails more than removing fear of litigation and sharing proprietary data. At least during a pandemic, when speed is of the essence, technology transfer also entails hands-on originator engagement to share noncodified know-how—that is, tacit knowledge. To be sure, the Texas team did all of this—they removed fear of patent litigation, they made their data and information available, and they offered hands-on support to aid their partners in manufacturing. Yet, acting alone, they were necessarily limited in how much they could contribute, and thus the size of the global network they could create.

AstraZeneca, with little previous vaccine experience, was not the first pharmaceutical firm that Oxford approached. 35 , 36 Yet, as it turned out, what mattered most was not vaccine manufacturing prowess per se, but rather the administrative, organizational, financial, managerial, and technological capabilities that a giant global pharmaceutical firm like AstraZeneca could apply to the project, including its experience in outward technology transfer.

AstraZeneca had the resources and administrative capacity to engage in the global identification of partners and to work hands-on with multiple partners, simultaneously, to help them absorb and use technology quickly. Importantly, as an experienced global manufacturer, AstraZeneca also was able to mobilize governments and philanthropic organizations to contribute essential resources to enable expanded investment in manufacturing. As the principal Oxford scientists have explained, after AstraZeneca came on board “things really took off. With their existing relationships with major manufacturing sites and the financing power to be able to commit to contracts, AstraZeneca was able to activate a programme of global production that was entirely beyond the scope of a UK university-led project.” pp. 145-146 The involvement of this third actor thus turned out to be important for finding global partners, triggering and accessing additional funding, and executing a program of global technology transfer.

Just as the Texas approach differed from traditional open-source software licensing, the Oxford licensing approach was not an off-the-shelf exclusive license. Rather, it appears to include critical public interest (global health-oriented) provisions. 37 Oxford expected AstraZeneca to establish global partnerships to decentralize production, with some partners operating on a “no profit, no loss” basis. That is, the breadth of the ensuing technology transfer, supported by additional external funding to proceed “at risk” in 2020 while trials were in process, appears to have been part of Oxford's licensing strategy, as was Oxford's expectation that vaccine doses produced by AstraZeneca's global network be made available at affordable prices in developing countries. 6 , 28 , 36-38 AstraZeneca would do so by selling at discounted prices directly to poorer countries and at-cost to the nonprofit COVAX organization, which was founded in 2020 to procure vaccines and make them available for distribution in 92 low- and middle-income countries. 39 Of course, caution is warranted in making statements about the prices of vaccines during the pandemic, as these were opaque and inconsistent; South Africa, for example, reportedly paid more for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine than EU countries did. 40

Here it is worth returning to the issue of timing that was noted in the Introduction. By the time the Texas vaccine completed trials and was ready for production and distribution in late 2021, a year after the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine became available, the COVID-19 vaccine market was saturated, with multiple products based on different technological platforms available. Indeed, by the end of 2021, and in stark contrast to the first 2 years of the pandemic, the supply of vaccines was outstripping demand. In such a context there may be little reason to expect Texas even to have aspired to a global manufacturing network along the lines of that achieved by Oxford and AstraZeneca. 2 Yet, the comparatively late arrival of the Texas vaccine, well after major variants such as Delta had run their course, is partially endogenous to other issues we have discussed. If the Texas vaccine had an external partner with global reach and benefitted from additional funding, it, too, might have advanced more quickly, being able to initiate technology transfer and clinical trial design at risk during the course of product development, as the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine (and the other externally supported candidates) did.

In this article we offer a comparative view of the Texas and Oxford vaccines’ trajectories, focusing primarily on their approaches to IP licensing and technology transfer, their engagement with partner manufacturers, and the roles they ultimately played in global pandemic response.

The Texas open-source vaccine project was viewed as being responsive to widespread concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic about equitable access to vaccines and treatments, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Building on traditions of open science and global public health, the Texas researchers brought their own track record in neglected tropical diseases to bear on the COVID-19 vaccine challenge. As such, they achieved success with the distribution of low-cost vaccines in India and Indonesia, and potentially in other countries where the vaccine is authorized for use.

Had more and larger external funders supported the Texas vaccine, the project might have developed faster and been accompanied by earlier and more expansive technology transfer and production. However, in a world where funders were directing resources to known partners that they expected to achieve big impacts quickly, Texas was disadvantaged. As a thought experiment, and noting that the Texas team sought support from the US government's “Operation Warp Speed” but was rebuffed, 1 imagine that public funders did get behind this project, conditional on Texas partnering with a major pharmaceutical firm. Such a scenario would not have been entirely different from what transpired in the United Kingdom with Oxford, which was encouraged to find a partner like AstraZeneca, and the subsequent trajectories of the vaccines may have been more similar, with both featuring the sort of multilevel arrangement we described above in the case of Oxford-AstraZeneca. Thus, far from being necessarily and inextricably linked, the licensing approaches and the subsequent outcomes of the Texas and Oxford vaccine programs should be regarded as functions of the innovation ecosystems within which they were operating. Neither of these approaches was inherently better or worse than the other, but in the innovation ecosystems within which they were operating, the Oxford approach achieved a greater global health impact.

Although Oxford's decision to partner with AstraZeneca has been characterized as an abandonment of its commitment to global public health, this characterization is not entirely fair. After all, even if the Oxford approach was not open source, 41 it was not a standard commercial approach either. As discussed, the Oxford-AstraZeneca agreement included expectations that AstraZeneca would engage in technology transfer to construct a global production network, as well as placing constraints on the subsequent distribution and pricing of vaccine output. In this sense, Oxford's “conditional licensing” strategy that combines commercial and public health considerations can be compared to the “ethical licensing” approach adopted by the Broad Institute of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Under this approach, the Institute included in its commercial licenses of its patented CRISPR gene editing technology restrictions against certain objectionable uses of the technology such as tobacco enhancement and species-destroying gene drives. 42 But while other large universities publicly announced programs to make their technologies available on generous terms during the COVID-19 pandemic, the results of these commitments, if any, have not been announced, 15 and the Oxford approach appears to have had a greater impact on public health.

Last, we wish to acknowledge that our article does not offer a comprehensive comparison of all aspects of the 2 university-based projects, but rather a focused analysis meant to draw attention to the important role played by active technology transfer. Ultimately, we believe that the comparison of the Texas and Oxford vaccine projects sheds light on how the innovation ecosystem functioned during the COVID-19 pandemic. 43 The different strategies for vaccine distribution adopted by these leading academic groups suggests that creative thinking and hybrid approaches may be needed to deal effectively with future pandemics and other global health challenges.

Supplementary material is available at Health Affairs Scholar online.

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Impact of Covid-19 on field and office workforce in construction industry

The COVID-19 outbreak is the greatest global health crisis in many years. It has had a dramatic effect on workforces and workplaces all around the world, as it has spawned a massive change in the working atmosphere and raised the level of employees’ concerns about their mental health and physical wellbeing. The construction industry has been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and has been challenged to improve the safety and wellbeing of its workforce. The objectives of this study are to identify the health and safety issues that construction workers have encountered during the pandemic and to recommend management strategies to combat them. A thorough literature search on recently published literature, industry experiences, reports, and other related documents was performed to collect and categorize the required data. Seventeen COVID-19 challenges were identified and classified into five categories, and the results revealed that the lack of a safe environment in the workplace, heavy workloads, home situations, and concerns about job stability often contribute to anxiety, depression, and even suicide. Eleven strategies were identified to overcome these challenges, and the results demonstrated that redefining worksite safety by placing signs, ensuring a safe distance between workers, providing sanitizers and washing stations in the fields, and utilizing effective technologies would enhance project productivity while keeping workers safe. The findings of this study will help the project managers and authorities in the construction industry understand the challenges of the pandemic and adopt effective strategies that will improve the health and safety of their workforce.

1. Introduction

The coronavirus, commonly known as COVID-19, is caused by the coronavirus 2 (i.e., SARS-COV-2), a serious acute respiratory disorder ( O. (O) and Coronavirus, 2020 ). It has been reported that the virus can be transmitted from person-to-person and causes symptoms that include fever, dry cough, fatigue, and shortness of breath. As of January 2021, the virus had spread to more than 200 countries, affected 91.5 million people, and caused 1.96 million deaths. The most critical part of the outbreak has been its rapid spread and long incubation period ( Hendrickson and Rilett, 2020 ).

In addition to the serious health emergency, the outbreak has resulted in a global economic decline. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) declared that the United States entered a period of recession in February; they called it the “Recession of COVID-19” ( Chodorow-Reich and Coglianese, 2020 ). The U.S. had record-high unemployment rates of 14.7 percent in April 2020 due to the economic downturn, which is appalling when compared with the unemployment rate of about 3.8 percent in February 2020.

The construction sector, like many other sectors, has been affected in a number of ways. Since the pandemic began, there have been fewer employment opportunities, partially due to the work disruptions that were caused by following constraints that were put in place to stop the progression of the virus, and a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) that was caused by the more pressing need for it by healthcare employees. Due to an interrupted supply chain and employee shortages due to quarantines, many projects have been halted or postponed ( urvey: 28% of Member, 2020 ; Rouhanizadeh et al., 2019 ). A survey conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) found that 28 percent of their members claimed that because of COVID-19 they had halted or delayed projects in the United States ( urvey: 28% of Member, 2020 ).

A shortage of workers is always a concern for the construction industry, but the pandemic has intensified it as a large percentage of construction staff has reportedly screened positive for the coronavirus ( Karimi et al., 2018 ). As the propagation of COVID-19 is largely related to individual contact, encounters between construction employees have played a major role in the delays in reopening projects. Physical distancing policies intended to decrease the virus spread have affected the number of workers permitted to work in an area, how the staff handles their jobs, and how project managers foresee the working environment ( Araya, 2021 ).

Although recent studies have focused on the impacts of COVID-19 on the construction industry, few insights have been provided for the construction workforce in particular. Therefore, this study aimed to (1) identify and categorize the challenges faced by construction workers during COVID-19 and (2) identify and categorize management strategies to effectively address these challenges. The findings of this study will assist organizations in establishing safe working environments in which complete their projects during the pandemic.

2. Methodology

A multi-step research methodology was adopted to fulfill the goals of this study. In the first step, a detailed literature review was conducted to collect relevant articles by using different search engines such as Google Scholar, Science Direct, Scopus, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Occupational safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Fig. 1 presents the structured research methodology adopted in this study.

Fig. 1

Research framework.

As presented in Fig. 1 , keywords such as COVID-19, physical and mental health, construction workforce, office workers, field workers, productivity, and project performance were used to find related articles in the existing literature. More than 200 journal articles, conference papers, and research reports were collected and reviewed. The title of each article was carefully reviewed and the articles relating to the construction workforce were selected for further analysis, the abstract of each article was examined for the purpose of selecting those that discussed the challenges that construction workers have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the full text of each of the selected articles was screened. After this rigorous selection process, 82 peer-reviewed publications were retained. A descriptive analysis of the literature was performed, and the database was analyzed, based on the name of the journal, where frequency of articles in different journals was presented to identify the majors which have conducted most research in this area, and the continents of origin of most of the research, to evaluate its relationship to the spread of the coronavirus. Next, an in-depth analysis was performed to identify the potential challenges of the construction workforce during COVID-19 and to categorize them into organizational factors, economic factors, psychological factors, individual factors, and moderating factors. The management strategies were categorized into three main categories: workforce protection, project performance protection, and project continuity protection.

2.1. Journal name

A list of 82 publications from various journals, along with their frequencies and percentages, is presented in Table 1 . These publications were extensively reviewed to identify the challenges and strategies associated with the health and safety of the workforce during COVID-19. As presented in Table 1 , Safety Science, an international medium published by Elsevier that publishes multidisciplinary papers, ranked first with a frequency of 19, accounting for 23 percent of all of the papers. The Journal of Construction Engineering and Management published by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) received the second highest frequency of 15, accounting for 18 percent of all of the selected publications. As construction was impacted more than most other industries by COVID-19, most journals in Safety Science and Journal of Construction Engineering and Management focused on these challenges.

Frequency and percentage of reviewed publications.

Note: * Journals that have a frequency of one, such as Emerald Open Research.

2.2. Continent of origin

The distribution of publications associated with the health and safety of the construction workforce during COVID-19 is presented in Fig. 2 . Countries worldwide identified the challenges faced by the construction industry during the pandemic and it was observed that developed countries are more concerned than developing countries about the health of their workforce.

Fig. 2

Distribution of publications based on continent of origin.

As shown on the map, North America received the highest percentage (55 percent) and ranked as number one among the number of publications related to COVID-19. Due to the significant effect of the pandemic on the economy and health of North America, several research efforts were initiated in this region. Europe, East Asia, and South Asia also have produced notable research, with percentages of 17, 9 and 7, respectively. A low percentage of publications in certain regions does not indicate that the area has been less affected by the pandemic; rather, it may be an indication that there is a dearth of publications from areas where more research needs to be conducted.

3. Challenges and factors that impact the health and safety of construction workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic

The construction industry was one of the first industries to be impacted by COVID-19, and the workers have been subjected to an increased risk of contamination ( Koh, 2020a ). Projects have been suspended, delayed, or altered and new works have been postponed as management has tried to come to grips with new ways of operating. Workers have had to adjust to social distancing requirements, adhere to the latest policies for sanitation and PPE, and adapt to technology for performing tasks remotely if possible. The significance of hygiene, health, and protection has never been clearer, and it is a major challenge to provide a safe working environment and practices, especially when multiple entities of various sizes are working together ( Peñaloza et al., 2020 ), ( Woolley et al., 2020 ), ( van der Molen et al., 2018 ), ( Stiles et al., 2018 ). The temporary nature of such arrangements can make safety leadership challenging, which is key to involving the employees in their own safety ( Stiles et al., 2012 ).

The virus is affecting not only people's physical health, but also their mental health and wellbeing. Contractors are observing their workers' mental health problems, as the workers mention anxiety as one of their main concerns during COVID-19. In a survey conducted by AGC, 70 percent of the participants identified “employee anxiety” as their main issue, citing concerns about supply shortages and local government shutdowns ( urvey: 28% of Member, 2020 ). Psychological health issues in the workplace have been a significant issue for a long time, but the coronavirus outbreak has exacerbated the. Many workers feel stressed about their job stability, the need to work remotely, and/or the need to conduct field work amid rising challenges to their health. Many individuals who lost their jobs during COVID-19 also face mental challenges, as they are anxious about whether they will have a job to go back to and how they will fulfill their financial obligations ( Woolley et al., 2020 ).

Psychological issues and mental health problems are common to those who have experienced traumatic events. Workers often have increased feelings of uncertainty, disappointment, anxiety, anger, exasperation, burn-out, and depression ( Ekpanyaskul and Padungtod, 2021 ). They can also experience a sense of failure, insomnia, difficulty in focusing, and/or exhaustion. If such stress is not handled appropriately, it may result in abuse of alcohol, nicotine, or other narcotics ( Karthick et al., 2021 ).

COVID-19 has also had an impact on employment factors such as wages, work schedules, workload, stress levels, relationships with co-employees and employers, and access to paid leave, all of which can have a direct effect on the physical and mental health of workers, their families, and their communities ( Jahan Nipa et al., 2020 ). Table 2 depicts several additional challenges that are categorized as organizational, economic, psychological, and individual.

Factors affecting the health and safety of the workforce during COVID-19.

3.1. Organizational factors

3.1.1. lack of safe working environment.

Top management teams' lack of awareness has made it difficult for workers to have a safe workplace. Site personnel are likely to experience fear and apprehension as their level of exposure to the coronavirus increases at work ( Ho et al., 2020 ) ( Yu-Tao XiangWen et al., 2020 ), especially if they feel that the vendors or other staff are not practicing safety measures such as social distancing. The number of people working in a workspace may also raise the employees' stress level ( Alsharef et al., 2021 ). In most situations, employees share common areas, including restrooms, and sub-contractors are often involved in several projects simultaneously at different site locations, which increases their potential to spread the virus from one place to other and increases the employees’ risk of exposure to the virus ( Rowlin, 2020 ).

3.1.2. Challenges due to working from home (WFH)

Although COVID-19 unexpectedly supplanted typical work habits, it also sped up developments that were already occurring, such as transferring work to teleworking environments ( Kniffin et al., 2021 ). Prior to the pandemic, whether or not to work remotely was usually the employee's choice. COVID-19 changed that, however, and has pushed many construction office personnel into mandatory remote working environments. Many employees face challenges due to lack of workspace at home and the need to set boundaries when transitioning from the work-to-home environment ( Ramarajan and Reid, 2013 ). Isolation has exacerbated this problem, as the daily interactions with friends and co-workers, an important part of good mental health, is missing and the employees feel socially isolated ( Rouhanizadeh and Kermanshachi, 2021 ).

3.1.3. Managing a different workload

Amid COVID-19, some companies have not adopted new timelines for their projects and are still pressuring their workers, to an extent that compromises their safety, to meet project deadlines as if things were normal ( Omran and Zaid, 2014 ). As a result of social distancing initiatives, design and planning practices have slowed down. Employees may feel stressed or nervous when faced with increased workloads due to staff shortages caused by workers being affected by the virus and self-isolation. Workforce shortages have disrupted inspections and maintenance operations, resulting in many employees working overtime to finish their duties, more personal risks, and higher levels of anxiety ( Nawi et al., 2017 ).

3.1.4. Management team's lack of leadership knowledge and skills

Effective leadership is more than just solving problems at workplaces; it also entails having the necessary skills, competencies, and insight to navigate and mitigate the challenges presented in the midst and aftermath of crisis situations, such as COVID-19 ( Stiles et al., 2012 ). It's still unclear what really constitutes effective onsite management, compliance reporting, and regulation ( Dirani et al., 2020 ) in these types of environments, and construction employees are not yet clear about the level of support they need ( Stiles et al., 2018 ). Top management's lack of leadership, knowledge, and skills pose threats to workers due to misinformation that may be disseminated regarding worksite policies and practices ( Stiles et al., 2020 ).

3.2. Economic factors

3.2.1. reduced accessibility to tools and equipment.

A large number of non-site employees have begun working from home, but they have faced significant challenges due to companies not having the requisite digital infrastructure ( Zaid Alkilani et al., 2013 ). There also have been major difficulties in obtaining access to the requisite software packages and other tools, which has resulted in inefficiency and employees struggling to meet project deadlines ( Alsharef et al., 2021 ).

3.2.2. Uncertainty related to the future of the workplace

Unemployed individuals have zero threats to their health and safety from the coronavirus in the workplace; however, they may experience a loss of motivation that causes them to worry about their work status and financial situation and contributes to poor mental health. A significant number of furloughs and layoffs are being mandated due to reduced workloads. An online survey conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) showed that more than 40 % of U.S. construction firms have recently furloughed their workers due to the cancelation of contracts and the lack of machinery or equipment caused by the outbreak ( urvey: 28% of Member, 2020 ). Additionally, many organizations are facing challenges of delayed cash flows, resulting in employers having to lay off their workers ( Alsharef et al., 2021 ). All of these factors act as additional stressors for workers ( Rowlin, 2020 ).

3.2.3. Supply chain disruptions

COVID-19 has interrupted and will likely continue to disrupt subcontractor scheduling as well as the supply of goods and materials ( del Rio-Chanona et al., 2020 ). Material delays that stalled overall project progress and triggered major schedule disruptions were experienced due to the social distancing and quarantining requirements that resulted in a smaller workforce within supply chain organizations. The delays were particularly evident when the supply chain included materials or raw materials from other countries ( Fernandes, 2020 ).

3.2.4. Cash flow delays

Cash flow delays are likely to occur due to delays in construction activities, and productivity is negatively affected as contractors struggle to pay their employees, subcontractors, and suppliers on time ( Pamidimukkala et al., 2021 ). Due to material costs and difficulties that owners had making timely payments to contractors during the pandemic, cash flow delays became a major issue and negatively affected the delivery of materials, slowed productivity, delayed projects’ progress, and sometimes even led to projects being suspended ( Choudhari, 2020 ).

3.3. Psychological factors

3.3.1. social isolation due to teleworking.

Social isolation resulting from teleworking has some negative impacts on workers' mental health and eventually leads to anxiety, depression, and even suicide ( Henke et al., 2016 ). A new work environment, different working habits, and a lack of materials and equipment essential to carry out their work ( Rowlin, 2020 ) all affect the workers' mental health. Employees who are already experiencing mental health issues are more likely to encounter new psychological symptoms and illnesses during a pandemic, and the workers who are required to quarantine are at a higher risk of psychiatric illness as they have no interactions with people ( Brooks et al., 2018 ). Workplace isolation has been shown to have major detrimental impacts on workers’ effective engagement, affiliative attitudes, and efficiency ( Ozcelik and Barsade, 2018 ).

3.3.2. Stress and burnout

The uncertainty and complexities caused by the pandemic have forced companies to intervene to promote the safety and welfare of their workers. In view of these stresses, COVID-19 has led to more workers suffering from job burnout – a recurrent state of stress such as persistent feelings of fatigue and less motivation to excel in their profession ( Demerouti et al., 2010 ). In addition, the constant exposure to up-to-the-minute news of COVID-19 creates fear and makes it easy to dwell on traumatizing signs and the potential effects of contracting the virus. Findings have revealed that workers who were subjected to Hurricane Katrina still had the aforementioned signs of anxiety and depression a year after the event ( Obradovich et al., 2018 ), thus adding credence to the fact that mental health is affected long after a crisis is over.

3.4. Individual factors

3.4.1. responsibility for personal and family needs.

Site personnel who work with inadequate resources in an environment with elevated risks and are pressured to meet project timelines worry about the safety and wellbeing of their families and their ability to meet the challenges of providing care for elderly or young dependents ( Stiles et al., 2020 ; Hamouche, 2020 ). They might also be worried or feel guilty about the potential for transferring the virus to their families. Many workers, including those who work in the field and require frequent interactions with people, are at a higher risk of exposure to unhealthy and asymptomatic people suffering from COVID-19 ( Choudhari, 2020 ). Other problems encountered are that the employees are often unable to report to work because of the lack of available child-care facilities, school closures, and the need to take care of sick family members. All of these factors induce pressure and adversely affect their mental health ( Van Bavel et al., 2020 ).

3.4.2. Learning various communication tools

Lack of familiarity and expertise with digital solutions and communication tools translates to high stress levels for employees ( CDCgov, 2020 ). For instance, some persons lack knowledge about how to use a virtual private network (VPN) to remotely link to the organization's network; how to participate in Zoom meetings, Microsoft Teams, Slack, etc.; and/or how to link their office desktop to their personal networks. They are overwhelmed and unequipped to meet challenges like low internet quality and speed, and internet outages that impact their productivity and mental health ( Alsharef et al., 2021 ).

3.4.3. Feelings of not contributing enough to work

Many of the construction office workers who are working in virtual environments during COVID-19 have limited, if any, access to office equipment like printers, which makes their jobs more difficult and affects their overall performance ( Van Bavel et al., 2020 ). Employees are burdened by the stress of obtaining their own resources, having to learn to use new technology, a sense of unease about what's going to happen, being unaccustomed to paperless administration and protocols, fear of virus contamination, maintaining office space at home, and achieving a work-life balance, all of which cause them to feel that they are not contributing enough to work ( CDCgov, 2020 ).

3.4.4. Adjusting to new work schedules

Adjusting to new work schedules during COVID-19 such as rotating shifts, night shifts, flextime, and more have varying effects on absenteeism, turnover, and the efficiency of construction employees ( Alsharef et al., 2021 ). Working the night shift is linked to higher absenteeism and lower productivity, while flextime schedules are linked to lower turnover and absenteeism. Different work schedules not only effect employee's productivity but also impact their attitudes and well-being, and ultimately undermine their overall job satisfaction ( del Rio-Chanona et al., 2020 ).

3.5. Moderating factors

3.5.1. effects of covid-19 on vulnerable age groups.

Although COVID-19 has impacted the entire construction industry, there is growing evidence that it has had a heightened impact on certain groups of employees. Older employees, whose immune systems are compromised by aging, are more vulnerable to the virus, which creates disparities in the workforce ( Brown et al., 2020 ). The challenges of telework are also exacerbated for older employees who struggle with technology, self-organization, segregating work and family responsibilities, and an absence of regular communication with project managers and co-workers. Adults with a pre-existing mental health disorders have experienced substantially more negative emotions and anxiety during the pandemic ( Newby et al., 2020 ).

3.5.2. Gender-based impacts of COVID-19

Men and women have been affected differently by the COVID-19 pandemic. It has had a much more serious impact on female workers than on male workers, which has intensified the gender disparities throughout the workforce ( Wenham et al., 2020 ). Since the pandemic has caused widespread shutdowns in childcare facilities and schools, women have been encumbered with increased family responsibilities, and many have had to juggle their unpaid daily chores while dealing with the loss of income ( Azcona et al., 2020 ). The stress of balancing family and job obligations has caused women to experience more health problems than men, including insomnia, nervousness, depression, migraines, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

3.5.3. Impacts on migrant workers

The vulnerability of migrant workmen has become even more apparent during the pandemic of COVID-19. Prior to the pandemic, migrant workers had more psychological health problems than non-migrants ( Firdaus, 2017 ; Virupaksha et al., 2014 ), but multiple issues during the pandemic have made them even more vulnerable to these problems. They are unable to isolate or social distance because of resource and/or space constraints, and separation from their families, loss of friends and/or family members to the pandemic, and a sense of helplessness in attending to the needs of their family while working increase the likelihood that they will develop anxiety, psychotic, and post-traumatic disorders ( Mucci et al., 2020 ). These socio-environmental adversities impact their economic status and encourage discrimination ( Zhou et al., 2020 ).

4. Strategies to overcome the health and safety challenges of the construction workforce during COVID-19

The safety challenges of COVID-19 are different for each type of project. For example, those working in outdoor environments and physically apart from one another are in a better position to adhere to the new safety codes than those who are working in contained spaces. It is vital, however, to conduct health and safety risk assessments, require employees to comply with scientific and policy requirements regardless of their work environment, and ensure that the workplace is safe ( Kermanshachi and Rouhanizadeh, 2019 ). All the efforts expended by employers to promote the health and safety of employees during COVID-19 should comply with the provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act ( Bailey JMadalena, 2020 ). A survey showed that 80 percent of construction sites had made significant improvements to their safety and health policies ( Achilles, 2020 ). The list of management practices is presented in Table 3 .

List of effective management strategies.

4.1. Workforce protection

4.1.1. redefining worksite safety.

Project managers are expected to provide a healthy workplace environment for employees during disease outbreaks such as COVID-19 by redefining their safety regulations. The safety measures include ensuring a minimum distance of 1.5 m between workers; using face masks to mitigate the transmission of the virus ( Stiles et al., 2020 ); conducting regular health screenings, i.e., temperature checks to monitor for presence of any COVID-19 signs among the workers; sanitizing equipment, machines and surfaces ( Stiles et al., 2020 ); installing signs in workspaces that encourage workers to physically distance themselves ( Katherine Vines and Beech, 2020 ); marking one-way traffic in areas inhabited by more than a few workers ( Alsharef et al., 2021 ); and promoting realistic PPE rules.

4.1.2. Supporting employees who work remotely

Working remotely is the most effective way for companies to keep functioning while ensuring their workers’ health and safety ( Greer and Payne, 2014 ). Many office employees, including construction estimators and schedulers, work remotely in order to encourage social distancing ( Hamouche, 2020 ). To minimize the negative impacts on employee mental health and wellbeing that may arise from remote working, however, companies must formulate measures that assist workers during these organizational changes. Greer and Payne (2014) identified several approaches that remote workers can use to cope with the difficulties that arise with teleworking. These approaches include maintaining continuous communication with co-workers and supervisors, participating in virtual interactive sessions that provide suggestions on how to handle the changes inherent in working from home, utilizing online tools to enhance productivity, taking breaks for self-care during the workday, checking in with management when additional support is needed. Workers must also establish and maintain their connections with their employers and establish boundaries between work and home responsibilities ( Hamouche, 2020 ), and teleworkers must be trained how to the technologies that are vital to the quality of their work and communication.

4.1.3. Initiate flexible work schedules to promote social distancing

Various approaches can be adopted to promote social distancing among field personnel ( Alsharef et al., 2021 ), and employers and employees are required to follow them while working on construction sites. These include staggered times for work teams so that they report to work at different times, which minimizes the number of staff at the workplace at a particular time; staggered break times for workers; restricting the number of people in the workplace; regulating the number of individuals using the elevators at the same time; and modifying work sites to facilitate proper physical distances, i.e., 1.5 m between workers during shifts ( Katherine Vines and Beech, 2020 ).

4.1.4. Teaching employees to be aware of and manage the signs of stress

The pandemic has changed the way workers operate, whether in the field, in the office, or remotely. Anxiety and fear about the outbreak can be debilitating for staff and can impair their well-being. It is, therefore, necessary for employees to be able to recognize and identify symptoms of stress that may include feeling irritable, angry, unhappy, depressed, confused, nervous and/or anxious; lack of motivation; insomnia; and inability to concentrate ( Katherine Vines and Beech, 2020 ). Workers must identify the areas in which they feel they have lost control and try to improve their sense of control by developing a consistent daily routine that utilizes the available resources ( CDCgov, 2020 ).

4.2. Project performance protection

4.2.1. enhanced use of technology.

The use of technology has increased during the pandemic, as workers have performed activities remotely rather than in the office. While construction does not seem to be a field that lends itself to Zoom meetings and technology tools, a range of technological advances are being used, such as web-based tools that facilitate virtual, rather than in-person, interaction with customers to address on-going projects ( Firm, 2021 ). Information modeling and digital twins provide a single source of reality across teams, assisting with virtual signoffs and handoffs, and comprehensive visualization of the design process provides greater transparency for decision-makers ( Vithana et al., 2020 ). Some of the emerging technologies like Building Information Modeling (BIM) enable knowledge sharing and effective communication between project teams and the stakeholders and enhance safety inspections, planning, and communication ( Karakhan et al., 2019 ; Yu et al., 2018 ). Advanced technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) boost safety inspections and instruction and can be used for safety training ( Li et al., 2018 ; Wang et al., 2018 ).

4.2.2. Training and educating employees on organizations’ COVID-19 policies

Training is a useful tool for preventing mental, physical, and emotional problems, and employers must clearly convey their rules in a language that everyone can understand to promote the health and safety of their workforce ( James et al., 2020 ). Training provides the workers knowledge about the significance of requisite behaviors and how they effectively combat the spread of outbreaks ( Brooks et al., 2018 ). The amount of training that the workers should receive for a specific work site or assignment depends on the level of risk involved. OSHA suggests that staff be educated to identify the signs and symptoms of COVID-19, be cognizant of acceptable social distance and hygiene procedures, know how to use PPE appropriately, be aware of the need to observe company rules and regulations, and understand how the virus spreads. In light of the current remote working environments, workers must also be instructed about managing virtual teams in order to support their team members. Co-development initiatives must be introduced to promote the workers abilities to comply with the effects of COVID-19 in the workplace ( Hamouche, 2020 ).

4.2.3. Establishing a system to maintain effective communication

Good communication between employers and their employees is essential to successfully containing the coronavirus. Employers must develop a communication plan that clearly presents any changes in rules and regulations to all of their employees in a language that they can understand ( Greer and Payne, 2014 ) and must assist them in adjusting to the new practices ( Hamouche, 2020 ). It is also important to provide workers with information about what changes might occur after the pandemic, the key steps that will be taken to restore all of the operations to their pre-pandemic functioning, and the possible effects of these measures on the employees. Project managers should consider investing in a workflow platform that everyone can use, which might also serve as a repository for notes and data ( Brooks et al., 2018 ). Workers have a responsibility to report possible symptoms, hazards, and exposure to the pandemic at the jobsite to their employers. Thus, communication and transparency on everyone's part can help to reduce the workers' stress levels and promote optimistic attitudes.

4.3. Protecting project continuity

4.3.1. longer timelines for project delivery.

Despite a decrease in productivity caused by a loss of workers, many companies are operating under the same project deadlines and delivery dates that were projected for their clients prior to the pandemic ( Stiles et al., 2020 ). New social distancing rules, significant safety improvements, smaller workforces, the need for adequate PPE, and the time needed for sanitation increase the amount of time that is required to complete projects. Extending project deadlines benefits workers by enabling them to concentrate on their health and safety while conducting their assigned tasks ( Firm, 2021 ).

4.3.2. Perform a contractor assessment to increase project productivity

As a consequence of COVID-19, contractors may not be financially able to complete contracts, resulting in management encountering change orders and allegations ( Lingard et al., 2021 ). The potential risks for this are multiplied for high-value or experienced contractors. Productivity and workforce consistency can be enhanced by performing continuous, extensive analyses during the development stage of the project ( Bsisu, 2020 ). To establish a baseline, these analyses must provide a pre-pandemic outline of development, disruptions, and anticipated contractor claims, accompanied by an evaluation of the contractor's cash flow and significance of the project. It is more important than ever for managers to carefully examine the contracts to be prepared for change orders and allegations ( Zhang et al., 2019 ).

4.3.3. Conducting risk analysis

Performing a risk exercise is an effective way to update the risk registers. This consists of considering a variety of ways that the project could unfold, including risks such as disturbances with supply chains; lack of cash flow of investors, subcontractors, and contractors; and permitting challenges ( Stephany et al., 2020 ). The benefits and costs of project closures and delays should be considered, and priorities for responses and prevention initiatives should be assigned, based on the likelihood and severity of the potential threats. The risk registers should be reviewed on a regular basis and potential threats and risk assessments should be considered ( Sharma and Deng, 2019 ).

4.3.4. Create an end-to-end supply chain map

Suppliers that transport materials across several regions have been affected by COVID-19 in varying ways and with varying consequences that have the potential to compromise the overall project. The inability to deliver materials or the limited availability of even one major element can bring a project to a halt ( Zhu et al., 2021 ). Construction companies must plan extensively and be strategic in searching for additional vendors from which to procure needed materials and in updating estimates for procuring and facilitating essential materials ( Wang et al., 2018 ).

5. Discussion

The authors analyzed the relationships between the seventeen challenges and eleven strategies, and the results are depicted in Fig. 3 . The lack of a safe working climate and the occurrence of health and safety challenges create a stressful working environment for field workers; therefore, the challenges related to the organizational category are recognized as being of utmost importance in the existing literature. Fig. 3 presents that adopting strategies such as redefining job-site safety rules, encouraging more remote work, extending project timelines, and initiating flexible work schedules helps field workers overcome the challenges of an unsafe working environment. Fig. 3 also illustrates that a slow cash flow is a major challenge for both office and field workers, as it results in a lack of PPE, delays in the delivery of materials, and decreased productivity. Performing contractor assessments and risk analyses, and mapping supply chains can effectively manage cash flows and facilitate a project's continuity. Office workers can overcome their challenges of reduced accessibility to tools and equipment, stress, social isolation, and concerns about job security by using enhanced technologies, recognizing their stress symptoms, and communicating with employers, respectively. Employers can help the workers who are more vulnerable to the pandemic due to their age by allowing them to work remotely and teaching them how to use technological tools.

Fig. 3

Systematic representation of relationships between COVID-19 challenges and strategies.

In summary, the most important strategy for both office and field workers is effective communication. Most of the challenges presented in Fig. 3 can be mitigated through effective communication between employers and employees. Workers should feel comfortable reaching out to their employers about any safety concerns at work sites and difficulties they encounter while working remotely.

The novelty of this work is based on the identification of Covid-19 challenges faced by both field and office workforces and the development of strategies that can prevent or at least minimize the unintended consequences of these challenges. The potential challenges and strategies addressed in this work can serve as guidelines for practitioners and decision-makers as they take appropriate actions and/or develop effective policies during similar situations.

6. Conclusion

This study documents the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on construction workforces and proposes strategies to effectively mitigate the challenges. Seventeen challenges were identified through the existing literature and were classified into five categories: organizational, economic, psychological, individual, and moderating. Eleven strategies that effectively address the challenges were identified and classified into three main categories: workforce protection, project performance protection, and protecting project continuity. The challenges of unsafe working environments, reduced accessibility to tools and equipment, social isolation due to teleworking, personal and family-related responsibilities during the work day, and age were the main concerns in the organizational, economic, psychological, individual, and moderating categories, respectively. The lack of a safe working environment exposes workers to the virus, the lack of access to required tools and equipment makes it difficult for workers to finish their assigned tasks, and social isolation due to teleworking can cause mental health issues. Eleven strategies were identified to control these challenges. Redefining job site safety by ensuring physical distancing between workers, frequent temperature checks, and flexible and staggered work schedules can improve the working environment and minimize workers' exposure to the virus. Providing the required tools and promoting the use of technology by hosting virtual meetings and frequently interacting with the remote workers helps to reduce their anxiety and stress. Extending project deadlines, conducting contractor analyses to identify delays, performing risk analyses, and mapping supply chains were also found to prevent disruptions and promote project continuity. The results of this study will greatly benefit project managers by helping them understand the workers’ COVID-19 challenges and prioritize their plans so that they can provide safe working conditions that protect their employees and support them both mentally and physically. The outcomes can be useful to government entities also as they address the adverse impacts of the pandemic. For further research, this study recommends conducting a survey of construction field and office workforces, based on the identified factors and assessed the implementation and effectiveness level of each strategy.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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IMAGES

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    The mini COVID-19 Post-Introduction Evaluation (mini-cPIE), also called the COVID-19 Vaccination Intra-Action Review (IAR), is a set of tools available to countries to review the early phase(s) of the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccine implementation. The mini-cPIE is a country-led facilitated discussion that aims to identify vaccine delivery ...

  23. Contrasting academic approaches to COVID-19 vaccine production and

    Introduction. In December 2021, approximately 2 years into the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital announced a new COVID-19 vaccine that was authorized for emergency use in India. ... Oxford was initially applauded for its commitment to offer nonexclusive, royalty-free licenses of its COVID ...

  24. Impact of Covid-19 on field and office workforce in construction

    Introduction. The coronavirus, commonly known as COVID-19, is caused by the coronavirus 2 (i.e., ... The amount of training that the workers should receive for a specific work site or assignment depends on the level of risk involved. OSHA suggests that staff be educated to identify the signs and symptoms of COVID-19, be cognizant of acceptable ...

  25. ScienceDirect

    ScienceDirect is a leading platform for peer-reviewed scientific research, covering a wide range of disciplines and topics. If you are looking for an article published in 2020 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, you can use the advanced search function to filter by journal, year, and keyword. You can also browse related webpages to find more articles of interest.