As the COVID-19 pandemic worsens in the U.S., experts are saying that traditional ways of fighting it are no longer working. U.S. public health professionals pioneered the methods that have successfully contained past pandemics, but coronavirus has spread so widely and quickly in the U.S. that experts say these steps will no longer be effective at containing it. Listen to learn why an infectious disease doctor describes the pandemic as “a national forest fire of COVID” and what public health professionals recommend for next steps.
Story Length: 4:25
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August 5, 2020
3:54
People infected with COVID-19 are often “silent spreaders,” able to infect others with the virus while showing no symptoms of illness themselves. The symptoms of COVID-19 often do not appear for several days in a newly infected person, but it is during this pre-symptomatic period that the person is most contagious. Because of this, public health experts are finding coronavirus especially hard to contain. Listen to an epidemiology professor describe the challenges of containing a virus that spreads silently, and which strategies have been proven to work best.
Read MoreJuly 1, 2020
3:35
As states reopen and coronavirus infection rates begin to rise, public health officials are monitoring the spread of disease. The “R,” or reproduction number, indicates how many people a sick person is likely to infect. An R of two, meaning every sick person infects two other people, translates into exponential spread in the community, and the goal of safety measures is to lower the R to less than one. Listen to learn which states currently have surging infection rates and how small changes in the reproduction number can mean big changes in the rate of illness.
This audio story was recorded in mid-June. The news about COVID-19 is changing rapidly and parts of this story may be dated.
Read MoreJune 22, 2020
3:09
Researchers have concluded that months of worldwide lockdowns intended to contain the coronavirus pandemic have successfully saved millions of lives. Two independent studies analyzed COVID-19 data on several continents and reached a similar conclusion: people staying home has greatly reduced the virus’s spread. The researchers recommend keeping certain safety measures in place as lockdowns are lifted to prevent a resurgence of infections. Listen to learn more about the positive impact of the lockdown measures and why one researcher calls lifting lockdowns “a tradeoff.”
Read MoreMay 11, 2020
4:47
A COVID-19 contact tracer tracks people who may have been exposed to the virus, but the work requires more than just detective skills. Contact tracers respond to the questions and concerns of people who may be ill, or who fear becoming ill, and help them plan for the immediate future. Contact tracers need to be able to quickly establish a bond of trust and show care for those facing the prospect of illness and quarantine. Listen to a public health doctor explain more about the important job of contact tracer and why people often feel relieved when a tracer calls.
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