Congress Is In Denial About COVID

What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Slate Podcasts

News, News Commentary, Daily News

4.3 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2022

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The White House and Senate Republicans are at an impasse when it comes to passing a $15 billion pandemic relief package. And there are growing concerns about money running out for COVID-19 response essentials like tests, therapeutic treatments and vaccines. This week, some of those pandemic relief federal funds will start drying up. What does that mean for America's state of pandemic readiness – especially if another wave is on the horizon? Guest: Dan Diamond, national health and policy reporter at The Washington Post. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:26.9	Slack.com slash DHQ.
0:34.9	Dan, can you tell me what's going on in America's waste water right now?
0:46.9	I'm going to assume you want me to give the analyst read of what's going on in the waste water.
0:52.9	I'm not the COVID read, not the E. coli read.
0:56.9	Dan Diamond covers health policy and health care over the Washington Post.
1:02.9	What's going on is that we are paying closer attention to the amount of COVID that is showing up in waste water.
1:10.9	It's like a passive read. People don't have to go get tested. This is just seeing what is in the sewer system.
1:17.9	That has shown a spike recently in this BA2 version of Omicron.
1:23.9	This is sub variant, right?
1:25.9	Yes, sub variant.
1:26.9	What does that mean?
1:28.9	Well, it means nothing good.
1:31.9	It's not just our sewer systems that are hinting at a coming surge.
1:35.9	Case loads are up in the UK, in Hong Kong. Hospitalizations are on the rise there too.
1:40.9	And I know what you're thinking. I don't want to hear a conversation about another COVID surge.
1:45.9	It's what Dan and I are thinking too.
1:47.9	Yeah, I mean, forgive me that I just have terrible deja vu.
	...

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