Ciencia Puerto Rico joins the COVID-19 Wisdom Coalition (COSACO), the Citizen Health Committee (CCS), Vistazo a la Ciencia, Periódico Nuestro, and Mentes Puertorriqueñas en Acción (MPA) to urgently ask the mayor of San Juan, the Hon. Carmen Yulín Cruz to take immediate action to integrate the municipality of San Juan into the Municipal System for Case Investigation and Contact Tracking (SMICRC). Currently, the capital city is the only municipality in Puerto Rico that does not participate in the SMICRC, despite having the highest incidence of infections and deaths in the entire archipelago. Below we share the full text of the letter.

26 de octubre del 2020

One of the pillars of the Yale Ciencia Academy (YCA) is that beyond their research, our scientists can contribute to society through science communication and public engagement. As part of their program year, YCA Fellows participate in science communication training and complete one outreach activity of their choice to engage with a community they care about. Since 2016, YCA Fellows have completed 150 outreach projects including blogs, newspaper articles, op-eds, and podcasts; lesson plans for educators and school visits; panels, workshops and conferences; public lectures; new science communication and advocacy initiatives; and hurricane relief efforts. The COVID-19 pandemic has been no exception.

The Puerto Rico Public Health Trust (PRPHT) and Ciencia Puerto Rico (CienciaPR), together with the humanitarian organization Mercy Corps Puerto Rico, dedicated to supporting communities and micro-businesses, started an alliance to educate young adults about the urgency of modifying their behaviors to stop COVID-19 infections in Puerto Rico.

With the slogan “Cuídate, Cuídame” (Take care of yourself, Take care of me), the organizations launched the educational campaign, which is made up of several efforts aimed mainly at the populations between 20 and 39 years old, which have the highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Puerto Rico.