For illustrative purposes only. (L) Photo by Burst on Unsplash. (R) Photo by Macau Photo Agency on Unsplash.
We all know about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic but do we really understand it? In an effort to better inform people about the virus, a school in Singapore has created a free online course on infection control and prevention.Launched on Wednesday, March 11, the course is a collaboration between Ngee Ann Polytechnic, an institute of higher learning in Singapore, and Gnowbe, an online learning platform.The course, titled Infection Control and Prevention 101, is a response to public anxieties about the global contagion, amidst an even more contagious spread of fake news.The course was designed by nursing educators from Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Health Sciences.According to Phang Chiew Hun, director of the School of Health Sciences, the purpose of the online course is to “help the public gain a working knowledge of what healthcare professionals call the chain of infection” and tell people how they can help to “prevent the spread of infection,” The Straits Times reported.
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The course will discuss disease transmission and outbreak management. According to its description on Gnowbe, there are five micro-learning sessions and 40 minutes of experiential content. Users may also contribute to group discussions and sharing. Upon completion of the course, participants will receive a digital certificate that they can add to their LinkedIn profile.The course creators are looking into translating the course into other languages to make it accessible to non-English speakers.
Besides the free course, Ngee Ann Polytechnic also has a programme on Gnowbe for healthcare professionals that centres on virus prevention and management.Singapore has been managing the contagion through meticulous contact tracing processes, making it the poster child for handling the coronavirus. While it has had 187 confirmed cases, there have been zero fatalities.Find Koh Ewe on Instagram.