Baby, it’s covid outside
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 20 December 2022
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Holidays and winter illnesses go hand in hand. Today on Post Reports, we unpack how to prevent the spread.
As families face a “tripledemic” of highly contagious respiratory viruses, we turn to national health reporter Lena Sun to understand the latest on how to stay healthy this holiday season. From effective flu and covid vaccines to DIY air filters, we find out what she has learned to keep viruses at bay, as well as what happened when she pressed a leading health official about the current masking guidance.
Coronavirus cases are on the rise again in many parts of the country, and this year’s surge in flu is the worst in more than a decade. It’s overwhelming hospitals and leaving many families out sick for weeks. Yet it’s unlikely that mask mandates are coming back anytime soon. And while the uptake of covid booster shots is still very low nationwide, new studies have found that the updated versions can prevent serious illness and deaths, especially among older adults.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So just a heads up before we start today's show, there is one moment where you will hear |
| 0:07.0 | a curse word. |
| 0:08.2 | So keep that in mind if you're listening in the car with a little kid, but in any case, |
| 0:13.2 | you'll enjoy this one. |
| 0:14.2 | Okay, here we go. |
| 0:16.3 | Basically, you take four air filters. |
| 0:19.4 | You have to be murved 13 air filters because that's the level of protection you want. |
| 0:25.3 | And you use a lot of duct tape. |
| 0:31.3 | Lena's son is a national health reporter at the Washington Post. |
| 0:34.7 | And having covered the pandemic now for three years, she thinks a lot about viruses and |
| 0:40.7 | what we can do to keep them at bay. |
| 0:43.6 | That's why this holiday season, she is taking matters into her own hands. |
| 0:48.1 | Her family is coming to visit, so she's making a DIY air filter. |
| 0:55.1 | Of course, the funny part is I have never built anything. |
| 0:58.9 | This is like home improvement with Lena and this box. |
| 1:04.2 | The concept is not difficult. |
| 1:06.0 | It's just, you know, I can see myself getting all wrapped up in duct tape. |
| 1:14.9 | From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports. |
| 1:18.0 | I'm Martine Powers. |
| 1:19.9 | It's Tuesday, December 20th. |
| 1:21.9 | Today, we turn to Lena to find out how to stay healthy during the holidays. |
| 1:26.3 | We'll hear what we need to know about their recent rise in cases of COVID and other viruses. |
... |
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