The coronavirus pandemic has us all asking a lot of questions: How long will I have to practice “social distancing”? Will there be a cure for COVID-19? Can I ever touch my face again?
WABE health reporter Sam Whitehead and guests will try to answer those questions. He’ll talk with experts, public officials, journalists, and everyday people about how the coronavirus is affecting their lives.
Ivan Oransky has been tracking questionable studies on COVID-19 for the blog "Retraction Watch", which he co-founded ( https://retractionwatch.com/retracted-coronavirus-covid-19-papers/ ). He shares his tips on telling the good research on the coronavirus from the not-so-good. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Turgay Ayer, who studies healthcare analytics at Georgia Tech, helped build The COVID-19 Simulator ( https://covid19sim.org/ ), which predicts how the coronavirus will spread as states start to lift restrictions on movement and activity. It predicts, the more states open, the more COVID-19 will spread. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Molly Samuel, who covers the environment for WABE, says the state's farmers were still recovering from Hurricane Michael when the coronavirus struck, forcing them to innovate. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dr. Andi Shane, Medical Director of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, says physicians are still learning a lot about Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a new condition possibly linked to the coronavirus. Also, how the pandemic is affecting childhood vaccination rates. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Willoughby Mariano, a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, says the Georgia Department of Public Health's handling of coronavirus data has made it harder for people to trust public officials. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dr. Kathleen Toomey, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health, talks about her agency's efforts to hire an army of disease detectives, to track down the contacts of everyone in Georgia who tests positive for COVID-19. She also addresses recent issues with her agency's COVID-19 data. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Earlier in the year, as hospitals started to see more and more COVID-19 patients, many put elective procedures on hold. That put Barbara Russell in a tough spot. Her surgery was meant to hold off cervical cancer. Engagement at WABE is powered, in part, by our collaboration with America Amplified, a Corporation for Public Broadcasting-funded initiative to use community engagement in our reporting. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Scott Steiner, CEO of Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, shares what he thinks is behind a recent rise in COVID-19 cases in Albany and how his hospital is watching for a potential second surge in patients. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones, an epidemiologist with the Morehouse School of Medicine .and the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, says COVID-19 has "ripped the sheets off the basic inequity, structured inequity by race in this country." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Liz Essley Whyte, a reporter for the Center for Public Integrity, has obtained an internal government document that shows federal officials are worried about Georgia's ability to handle a surge of COVID-19 patients even as the state continues to loosen shelter-in-place restrictions. More on the story here: https://publicintegrity.org/health/coronavirus-and-inequality/as-georgia-reopens-its-intensive-care-beds-are-largely-full/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
George Simmons, a recent graduate of Banneker High School in College Park, joins me to discuss how the coronavirus has upended his senior year and what it could mean for his future. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Melita Nichols tells the story of losing her 27-year-old daughter, Qunia "Nia" Roberts, to the coronavirus after her own fight with COVID-19. Roberts remains one of the youngest people to die of the disease in hard-hit southwest Georgia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Isaac Fung, an epidemiologist at Georgia Southern University, walks through some of the COVID-19 data compiled by the Georgia Department of Public Health ( https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report ) and discusses what it tells us (and what it doesn't). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Michelle Nunn, president and CEO of CARE USA, says the international humanitarian organization CARE is offering aid in the U.S. for the first time. That as the non-profit faces a potential downturn in donations as the nation's economy suffers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Roxanne Scott, who covers the U.S. Census for WABE, says the conronavirus pandemic is complicating the national headcount--and is showing its real importance. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dr. Natalie Lane, medical director for the emergency department of the Children's Hospital of Georgia, says its not totally clear why kids seem to be less affected by the coronavirus, but cautions the pandemic could still affect them profoundly. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dr. Brendan Jackson, medical epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, talks about a new report that finds African-Americans are more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19, and some adults could expect severe illness even without underlying risk factors. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Atlanta History Center has launched a project to collect documents, stories, and artifacts that show how everyday people are living through the COVID-19 pandemic. Sheffield Hale, president and CEO of the organization, says it's not always easy to know what will have historical value. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Lis Hernandez, owner of Venezuelan restaurant Arepa Mia, says she doesn't feel safe opening her two locations for dine-in service, despite the fact that she has permission from state officials to do so. She's been completely closed for the last month and says it's taken a toll on her business. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, explains the basics of contact tracing--and lays out some of the challenges of tracking and isolating people with COVID-19. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dr. Aneesh Mehta, with the Emory University Vaccine Center, says antibody testing could help public health officials get a better sense of who's been infected by the coronavirus. It's less clear, however, what kind of immune protection those who've recovered might have. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Devon Orland, legal director with the Georgia Advocacy Office, a federally-mandated advocacy group for people with disabilities, says COVID-19 has cut her off from her clients in nursing homes and state hospitals. That has her worried for their safety. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Joshua Weitz, a quantitative biologist at Georgia Tech, says models can't give us certainty about what will happen with the coronavirus pandemic, but they can still help tailor interventions to keep people safe. Plus, his thoughts on Governor Brian Kemp's decision to start re-opening Georgia's economy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Governor Brian Kemp will allow some Georgia businesses to resume operations at the end of the week, less than one month after issuing a statewide shelter-in-place order to fight COVID-19. Emma Hurt, WABE government and politics reporter, talks about what the move could mean for the economy and the spread of the pandemic. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Will Tauxe, a third-year family medicine resident physician in Columbus, Georgia shares the story of his personal fight with COVID-19 and what it will mean for how he treats patients in the future. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Is there anyone who hasn't been affected in some way by the pandemic? Molly Samuel talks about WABE's effort to collect and share personal stories of living through the coronavirus. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Lots of people have had their employment situations changed by the pandemic. Many have lost jobs. Many are working in different hours or different settings. A long-time custodian at the Atlanta airport and a long-haul truck driver share how their work has changed. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
COVID-19 has led Georgia officials to delay the state's presidential primary election multiple times and to push vote-by-mail in new ways. Emil Moffatt, who covers voting for WABE, talks about what the changes could mean for November's general election. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dr. Chirag Patel, Medical Director for Population Health at Wellstar Health System, says the coronavirus isn't going away any time soon and shares his thoughts on what's needed to ride out the pandemic in the long-term. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Michael Fowler, Dougherty County coroner, on how the coronavirus has made death investigations harder and more important than ever--and what its meant for the people of Albany, Georgia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
