Students across the world recently heard from a renowned expert on viruses from Western Montana during the virtual 55th annual Montana Model UN High School Conference.
Dr. Marshall Bloom -- who works at Rocky Mountain Labs in Hamilton -- shared some insight into the COVID-19 work being done at Rocky Mountain Labs.
He said his team began researching COVID back in January, and they’ve continued performing experiments on vaccines, medications, and therapeutics. Dr. Bloom went on to say it's important that we restore trust in our health officials he hopes to see national figures leading by example in that regard.
Dr. Bloom left the conference with one keynote saying we cannot underestimate the impact of taking those simple, preventative measures.
"Watch your distance and wear a mask. If everyone contributed if everyone followed those three simple rules, estimates vary, but some of the estimates would suggest that that could have the impact of reducing the transmission of this virus by up to 70% which is just astonishing," Dr. Bloom said.
While there's talk of a COVID-19 vaccine already near completion, Dr. Bloom said Rocky Mountain Labs is still busy with their own research noting that the first vaccine isn't always the one that receives the most general acceptance.
