Today, on 7 April 2020, we celebrate World Health Day. This year it came at a very difficult time when doctors, nurses, first responders, ambulance drivers, laboratory workers and other medical personnel are working heroically, even beyond their strength.

On behalf of academic community of the University of Gdańsk we would like to offer our sincere thanks to all healthcare professionals, especially those working in Pomorskie Region for their courage and enormous efforts to save human lives and health.

University of Gdańsk, as a community, try to support those efforts and help limit the spread of coronavirus. We provided specialist equipment, Thermal Cyclers Light Cycler 480 II, increasing regional coronavirus testing capacity. Gdańsk Voivodship Unit of the State Sanitary Inspection received one apparatus, VII Navy Hospital in Gdańsk received remaining two with additional accessories. The hospital is a part of the national single-purpose infectious disease hospitals network. The equipment provided will allow to set up COVID-19 dedicated specialist molecular diagnostic laboratory at the hospital site. We also provided Dormitory no. 5, situated next to the Navy Hospital, for the purposes of health professionals, it serves as a resting place for the hospital’s personnel. Our students help immensely. In cooperation with St. Brother Albert Aid Society they organized help for, often disinformed, homeless people, teaching them how to react to epidemiological danger. UG students launched fundraising event ‘Pomóż zdalnie na kwarantannie’ (Remote routine, help during the quarantine’) to purchase: PPEs, medical equipment and hot meals for medical professionals. Our scientists support the healthcare workers’ efforts by explaining the subject of COVID-19 threat in the media, reassuring the public and debunking false claims.

We would like to wholeheartedly thank and show our support to the healthcare professionals.

Academic community of the University of Gdańsk