Coronapod: Ramping up responses

Benjamin Thompson, Noah Baker, and Amy Maxmen discuss the latest on the British response, and what low- and middle-income countries have done to prepare for the pandemic.

In this episode:

01:33 Testing in the UK This week, the UK health secretary announced plans to further ramp up testing for COVID-19, with the aim of preforming 100,000 tests a day in England by the end of April. We discuss these plans and why testing remains a key weapon in the fight against the virus.

11:37 Pandemic preparation in poorer countries COVID-19 cases have started to be reported in many low- and middle-income countries. We hear how a few of these nations are preparing and what might happen if these efforts fail. News article: How poorer countries are scrambling to prevent a coronavirus disaster

26:43 One good thing this week As our hosts end another week of working from home, they pick out things they’ve seen that have made them smile in the last 7 days. Video: Samuel L. Jackson reads Stay the F*** at home Evening Standard: Medical fetish site says it's giving scrubs to NHS hospital amid coronavirus crisis NPR: U.K. Family's Lockdown-Themed Rendition Of 'Les Mis' Is A Delight Twitter: Patrick Stewart reads one of Shakespeare’s sonnets each day

28:54 The effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on research animals With stay-at-home orders in effect in many parts of the world, scientists are making difficult decisions to safeguard the welfare of their lab animals. We hear from one researcher who plans to care for his fruit flies at home, and another who has had to euthanize many of the mouse colonies used in his institution’s research.

News: Cull, release or bring them home: Coronavirus crisis forces hard decisions for labs with animals

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