Stay Ahead: Insights from APCO

Webinar: Best Practices: Renewing Rare Disease Trials in the Age of COVID-19

With the shuttering of labs to the disruption of clinical trials, patient access to potentially lifesaving drugs was significantly restricted in the early months of the global pandemic. But resourceful and determined rare disease experts devised creative and innovative solutions to overcome setbacks posed by the worldwide shutdown. Join us on Wednesday, July 15 at 11:00 a.m. ET to learn how rare disease trials in the European Union, Latin America and the United States are advancing. RSVP here.
The Road Ahead Beyond Pandemic and Shutdowns

Mark Casso, President at the Construction Industry Round Table, an APCO client, and Jack Kalavritinos, senior director in APCO Worldwide's Washington D.C. office, share how the design and construction industry safely reopened during the pandemic: 
Cartoon image of three construction workers with masks
"The design and construction industry has elevated safety to the highest levels over the last decade. This includes instituting a cultural paradigm shift within the companies to a zero-tolerance injury and incident-free workplace going beyond just adherence to OSHA rules and regulations. 

The “safety first mindset” enabled project managers to seamlessly adopt COVID19 health and safety best practices and protocols. In any future pandemic, it will be private sector businesses that will show how to safely stay open while securing their supply chains, and meeting their customers’ needs."
Communicators, Don Your Space Suits!

Alexander Wegner, an account director at APCO Worldwide, discusses how aerospace companies are operating during the pandemic and the importance of effective communication in this industry: 

"Space missions provide no escape from the recurring troubles of our squabbling planet, but they can help clarify our position in this vast cosmos, thereby, attesting to the preciousness of life on Earth. Like the 1969 moon landing, future space missions will be remembered for the stories they convey about our ambitious human project and the vistas of distant worlds—such as the stunning Earthrise—beckoning to be explored.

The impact of these stories and the endurance of emotions images can trigger, depends on the ability of communicators to leverage their creativity and skills in composition, to bring to life far-flung swaths and, thus—paradoxically perhaps—shine a light on Earth." 

View of stars and galaxy from Earth

Some Positive News

  • Coronavirus air filters: Foam air filters created by University of Houston researchers may be key to disinfecting cooling and heating systems, Houston Chronicle
  • Lockdown entrepreneurs: A British woman used lockdown as an opportunity to start a craft business with her four-year-old daughter, The Telegraph
  • Global pen pals: A nursing home asked people to send letters to its residents during the pandemic and received 15,000 letters from around the world, Fox News

More Tips from Around the Water Cooler

Quotables


"Unlike tens of millions of people around the world, we do not have to worry about losing our jobs, our homes, or our ability to support our families. We are not fighting on the frontlines of this emergency and we are much less likely to be its victims. So please. Tax us. Tax us. Tax us. It is the right choice. It is the only choice."

        - Millionaires for Humanity

"This infection is not going to disappear...without science leading us to vaccines, we will get second and third waves of this."

        - Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust
The APCO team is working with clients globally to manage this crisis, and we stand ready to support your needs. For more resources from APCO, including our latest research, information on how we can help or to contact us, visit apcoworldwide.com/coronavirus.