World-Leading Experts Headline COVID-19 Summit Hosted by WTTC & Carnival Corporation

Top global scientists & health experts will provide latest insights, best practices for "new normal"

Free event set for July 28 is open to the public and registration is now open

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Jul 22, 2020, 09:00 ET

LONDON, July 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) – together with the world's largest cruise company, Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) – today announced more world-leading scientific and medical experts participating in the WTTC/Carnival Corporation Global Science Summit on COVID-19 on July 28.

Together, with the panelists already announced, this distinguished group of top global medical, epidemiology and public health experts will focus on the science of COVID-19 and the "new normal."

Scheduled for Tuesday, July 28 from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. GMT (10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. EDT), the virtual event will explore the most up-to-date science and medical evidence available to inform practical, adaptable and science-based solutions for mitigating and living with COVID-19.

Open to the public, the event is free to attend. To register and see more information, including the current full lineup of top experts, please go to CovidScienceSummit.com.

The WTTC/Carnival Corporation Global Science Summit on COVID-19 will include a series of panels focusing on critical areas of science related to COVID-19. During a combination of science-based discussions sharing the latest knowledge of key topic areas, speakers will examine the epidemiology of the virus, transmission, testing, prevention, treatments, vaccines and approaches to help mitigate and live with COVID-19.

The additional panelists, in alphabetic order, include the following:

Dr. Julio Frenk, MD, MPH, PhD, president of the University of Miami, professor of public health sciences, the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, and professor of health sector management and policy, the Patti and Allan Herbert School of Business. He served as the Minister of Health of Mexico, helping to reform the nation's health system by introducing comprehensive universal coverage, known as Seguro Popular.
Dr. Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, PhD, director, Global Health & Emerging Pathogens Institute, The Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai and professor of microbiology and medicine, infectious disease. He has focused on a wide variety of viral pathogens, as well as host-pathogen interactions, and vaccine and anti-viral drug development.
Dr. Steven Gordon, MD, chairman, department of infectious disease, Cleveland Clinic, Respiratory Institute and professor of medicine, The Lerner College of Medicine, Case Western University. He has been focused on hospital infection prevention, including device-associated and opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients.
Dr. William Morice, II, M.D., Ph.D., chair, department of laboratory medicine and pathology at Mayo Clinic, president, Mayo Clinic Laboratories, and professor of laboratory medicine and pathology. Dr. Morice is an expert in diagnostic testing serving in leadership roles for numerous boards and partnerships to enhance understanding of clinical diagnostics and test utilization.
Dr. Jewel Mullen, MD, MPH, associate dean for health equity, University of Texas at Austin, Dell Medical School. Dr. Mullen is an internist, epidemiologist and public health physician leader and the former principal deputy assistant secretary for health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Dr. Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA, author, former vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and 19th Surgeon General of the United States. In that role, he created initiatives to tackle the country's most urgent public-health issues, including the Ebola and Zika viruses, obesity, mental health, and the opioid crisis.

Gloria Guevara, WTTC president & CEO, said: "We are privileged to welcome these esteemed experts who each offer valuable insight on how best to apply the latest science and medical-evidence to address the many practical questions people have about living in a world with COVID-19. Now is the time to engage in open discussion on how we as leaders and global citizens alike can join forces to best manage this international crisis. I am delighted that WTTC and Carnival Corporation are collaborating on a forum for these important conversations."

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

"We are grateful to the many highly regarded and well-respected experts who have agreed to participate in this very important scientific summit – their names are well-known among those at the forefront of the COVID-19 battle," said Donald. "Their insights will be incredibly helpful as businesses and governments alike seek to better understand COVID-19's impact on society, and as together we consider safe and practical evidence-based practices for mitigating and living with the virus."

Summit will discuss practical approaches to living in a world with COVID-19

The summit will be attended by global tourism leaders, including WTTC Members, government agencies, destination partners, trade and private businesses and the general public for this sharing of real-time insights and the latest scientific findings from across all fields of knowledge in the public and private sectors. Panels will focus on the following key topic areas:

Epidemiology: Incubation and peak infectivity periods for SARS-CoV-2; disease progression from exposure to illness; and symptom variability.
Transmission: How, when and where SARS-CoV-2 spreads; significance of environmental transmission; guidelines for mitigating spread.
Screening and Testing: Availability and accuracy of current testing methods; viable and cost-effective ways to detect illness and effectiveness of various screening methods.
Therapeutics: Status of vaccine development; available and approved SARS-CoV-2 treatment protocols and profiles of COVID-19 recovery.
Practical Risk Mitigation: The best approaches to mitigating spread; the key elements of protocols and behaviors needed to live in a world with the virus.

Registration Details

To register and for more information, including the current full lineup of top experts, please go to CovidSummitScience.Com. Participants will be invited to submit questions in advance and during the online event. Members of the media are welcome to join for all or part of the sessions or connect with members and/or presenters.

About WTTC

Evidence from WTTC's Crisis Readiness report, which looked at 90 different types of crises, highlights the importance of public-private cooperation to ensure that smart policies and effective communities are in place to enable a more resilient travel and tourism sector.

According to WTTC's 2020 Economic Impact Report, during 2019, Travel &Tourism was responsible for one in 10 jobs (330 million total), making a 10.3% contribution to global GDP and generating one in four of all new jobs.

About Carnival Corporation & plc
Carnival Corporation & plc is one of the world's largest leisure travel companies with a portfolio of nine of the world's leading cruise lines. With operations in North America, Australia, Europe and Asia, its portfolio features Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, P&O Cruises (Australia), Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and Cunard.

Additional information can be found on www.carnival.com, www.princess.com, www.hollandamerica.com, www.seabourn.com, www.pocruises.com.au, www.costacruise.com, www.aida.de, www.pocruises.com and www.cunard.com.

SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc