Hastings Center News
Protecting Communities from COVID-19
FOUR STEPS TO PROTECT COMMUNITIES FROM COVID-19 AND RESTORE THE ECONOMY
The Hastings Center, the oldest independent, nonpartisan research institute in the world focused on social and ethical issues in health, released a video today with four simple steps to curb the spread of the coronavirus and restore the economy: “Stop the Spread.”
These steps include:
- Widespread use of masks to prevent disease transmission;
- Widely available testing with quickly reported results;
- Large-scale contact tracing to determine who is infected, or may become infected; and
- Voluntary, targeted isolation by those who test positive for, or who have been exposed to, the virus.
Without effective masking, testing, tracing, and isolation, the country’s attempts to reopen will be disrupted. Stopping the spread of the novel coronavirus—and avoiding a general lockdown—depends on these important measures.
“We’ve never produced a campaign like this,” said Hastings Center president Mildred Solomon, “but there is an urgent, moral imperative to follow these steps, even with a vaccine on the horizon.”
View The Hastings Center’s video “Stop the Spread” here.
Since the start of the pandemic, The Hastings Center has issued four ethical guidance documents for hospitals and other health care organizations responding to COVID-19. To access the guidances and for more information about The Hastings Center’s response to COVID-19, visit https://www.thehastingscenter.org/ethics-resources-on-the-coronavirus/ and www.thehastingscenter.org/pandemic.
