The Science of COVID-19: A course for everyone!

There is A LOT of information out there about COVID-19....and not all of it is accurate.  And even the accurate information can be overwhelming!  The Pennsylvania State University has constructed an introductory course that takes that information and breaks it down into three modules: Virology, Epidemiology, and Public Health Preparedness. Experts in virology, epidemiology, agent-based modeling, and public health preparedness co-developed the course which is free for everyone.

I was curious, and so registered for the course (a quick step) and then launched right in. The first module is virology, and has two lessons, several activities, self-check questions and a quiz. If I scored 80% or better I would earn a certificate of completion, so I settled in to study. The virology module showed a timeline of the pandemic, starting on December 23, 2019 in Wuhan. From there it does a remarkable job of stepping through the process of identifying the novel virus SARS-CoV-2.  I was able to try out sequence alignment programs and learn about virus structure and in particular the S protein, a protein that has become all too well known over the past year.

The second and third modules are equally detailed, and very informative.  Module 2 walks you through the epidemiology of an outbreak. There are simulations of infection and I could play with variables: the number of infected people at the start, the effectiveness of masks, social distancing measures, etc, and then watch to see how the setting affected the infection rates. Module 3 explores Public Health Preparedness issues such as hospital bed availability, issues that are being faced right now by hospitals. The modules take a dedicated amount of time, but luckily since there is a registration system and password set up, you can exit and sign back in if you do not have time to finish it in one sitting. The system does not keep your place in the modules but it is easy to use the list of sections along the left to scroll to where you left off. 

I highly recommend this course--it is a well-done exploration of the Science of COVID-19!

Photo Credit: CDC/ Alissa Eckert, MSMI; Dan Higgins, MAMS, CDC; accessed at the Public Health Image Library