WTTC and Carnival Corp. schedule COVID-19 scientific summitWTTC and Carnival Corp. schedule COVID-19 scientific summit

Set for July 23 and open to the public, this will be a virtual scientific summit focused on COVID-19 and the 'new normal.'

Sharing latest scientific knowledge and best practices

The summit will share the latest scientific knowledge and evidence-based best practices related to prevention, detection, treatment and mitigation of COVID-19.

Speakers and panelists represent a diverse range of science, research, clinical, academic, policy and business backgrounds, including members of Scientists to Stop COVID-19. An outline/registration are at CovidScienceSummit.com.

Produced by Carnival in coordination with WTTC

Arnold Donald, president and CEO of Carnival Corp., is a member of the WTTC Executive Committee and its vice chair for North America. The company designed and is producing the summit in close coordination with WTTC leadership.

'This event will be a powerful platform for harnessing the best thinking from across all fields of knowledge in the public and private sectors,' according to WTTC President and CEO Gloria Guevara, who said COVID-19 has had a 'crushing global socioeconomic impact' that threatens millions of jobs for people who depend on a thriving travel and tourism sector.

'The science of this virus is rapidly evolving and these real-time insights will be invaluable in helping us determine evidence-based protection and mitigation measures to combat COVID-19,' Guevara continued. 'They will also help drive global alignment and collaboration on the frontiers of science and policy, which is critical to the survival of this important sector.'

Practical approaches to living in a world with COVID-19

Panels will include a mix of science-based debates and discussions sharing the latest thinking on key topic areas including epidemiology, covering the Incubation and peak infection periods for SARS-CoV-2, disease progression from exposure to illness and symptom variability among different individuals and groups.

Another focus topic, transmission, will examine how, when and where the virus spreads, the significance of environmental transmission and guidelines for mitigating spread.

Further key topics are screening and testing, therapeutics including the status of vaccine development and treatment protocols, and practical risk mitigation, including managing the psychology of fear.

Speakers

Scheduled speakers include Nobel laureate Dr. Michael Rosbash; Thomas J. Cahill, MD, PhD and founder/managing partner of Newpath Management; Michael Z. Lin, MD, PhD and associate professor of neurobiology, bioengineering, and chemical and systems biology at Stanford University; and Stuart Schreiber, PhD, professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard University and co-founder of the Broad Institute.

'Throughout the pause in our guest operations, we have been consulting and assembling the best minds in medical science, public health and infectious disease control,' Donald said. 'We are grateful to bring together a select group of science and medical experts who bring such relevant insight into COVID-19 for the public to hear. Hopefully, this summit will be an efficient way for attendees to become more informed about COVID-19 in the space of just a few hours.'

The program is scheduled for 14:30 to 17:30 GMT/10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. EDT, July 23.

Registration is here: CovidScienceSummit.com. Participants will be invited to submit questions in advance and during the online event.