COVID-19 is affecting the great majority of people on the planet in one way or another and information (fact and fiction) relating to the pandemic is circulating via social media streams at an astonishing rate.
Providing factual, accessible, and unbiased interpretations of insights emerging from COVID-19 research is critical. To help contribute to this Edinburgh Infectious Diseases published summaries of the talks at the Edinburgh Coronavirus Workshop at the end of March.
However, as with so much of the information that is available about COVID-19, these summaries are in English.
Engaging locally and globally
To make this information much more accessible for people whose first language is not English, the Edinburgh Infectious Diseases community came together to translate these summaries into twenty one different languages from around the world.
Over 50 students, postdocs and group leaders have generously contributed their scientific and linguistic knowledge to the project, which has now published translations in Arabic, Bosnian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Esperanto, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Malay, Nepali, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian and Spanish, Telugu, Thai and Turkish.
“I’m delighted that so many members of our international community in Edinburgh have contributed to this initiative allowing access for non-English speakers from around the world to learn about the cutting edge COVID-19 science being carried out in Edinburgh that is being used to inform clinical treatment and public health measures,” said Professor Ross Fitzgerald, Director of Edinburgh Infectious Diseases.
Particular thanks are due to Nat Ring at the Roslin Institute and Julie Fyffe in the School of Biological Studies, who collated and compiled the translated texts, he added.
It has been wonderful to see how many people from across Edinburgh Infectious Diseases and beyond have come together to make this project possible, and highlights the truly global diversity of our staff and students.
For the translated summaries of the talk from SARS-CoV2/COVID-19 workshop please visit Edinburgh Infectious Diseases website.
Hilary Snaith is the Manager of Edinburgh Infectious Diseases, Univeristy of Edinburgh.
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