Johns Hopkins Medicine is heading up the global fight against COVID-19 on multiple fronts. From testing to treatment, public health outreach to potential vaccines, experts from across our institution are making key contributions to contain the pandemic and prevent future infectious disease outbreaks.
Coronavirus testing is critical for delivering prompt and proper care, as well as for tracking the spread of the disease. To support patient care and public health, we have a team of about 90 working around the clock in our microbiology lab to process as many as 1,500 tests each day.
When patients test positive for the novel coronavirus, our specialists assess the severity of symptoms to provide the most effective treatment. Our clinicians care for COVID-19 patients with the utmost attention to safety.
Meanwhile, providers throughout the heath system are ensuring continuity of all other clinical services, whether at one of our physical facilities or via online visits. In addition to enforcing strict safety precautions for in-person care, we have greatly expanded our telemedicine capabilities and now complete several thousand virtual visits each day to ensure patients continue to receive the right care at the right time.
As COVID-19 has spread, so, too, has misinformation regarding the disease. In this confusion, we have earned recognition as a source of truth locally, nationally and globally. Experts from the broad Johns Hopkins network are consistently sharing COVID-19 information via dozens of community outreach calls and events, hundreds of webinars and podcasts, and thousands of media interviews with our infectious disease experts.
Additionally, as many as 5 billion daily users — including from government agencies, public health departments and news outlets — regularly rely on our COVID-19 dashboard map and data repository for the latest updates on the pandemic.
Perhaps the most anticipated update is when a vaccine will be available. Our researchers are working tirelessly to find ways to better understand, treat and eventually eliminate COVID-19 and similar diseases. The Johns Hopkins University has received or redirected millions of dollars of funding to support the COVID-19 Research Response Program.
We also received $35 million from the U.S. Department of Defense to test the effectiveness of a convalescent blood plasma outpatient treatment, a blood transfusion containing antibodies from COVID-19 survivors that may help a patient’s immune system fight the virus.
In research discoveries, clinical care and health education, we are employing all available talent and resources as we lead the way in the era of COVID-19.
