This is PEDYACAST.

Welcome to Pediacast, a pediatric podcast for parents.

And now, direct from the campus of nationwide children's, here is your host, Dr. Mike.

Hello, everyone, and welcome.

Once again, to Pediacast.

It is a pediatric podcast for moms and dads.

This is Dr. Mike, coming to you from my home because when I'm not working clinical shifts, I am social distancing just like all of you.

Welcome to the program.

It's episode 457 for March 25th, 2020.

We're calling this one COVID-19, our new routine. So here we are in the midst of a historic pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which results in a potentially severe and life-threatening respiratory illness called COVID-19.

Now, we covered both the virus and the disease in considerable detail.

That was episode 455, COVID-19, What You Need to Know.

Our best chance of fighting this pandemic with the least loss of life is by acting upon two tried and true public health interventions known as social distancing and flattening the curve.

Now, these are needed in order to prevent our health care system from becoming overwhelmed, which could not only result in hundreds of thousands, or even over

a million, COVID deaths, but also loss of life from the other things that happen to people,

like heart attacks, strokes, cancer complications, car accidents, because the health care system,

if it's swamped with the virus and all that illness,

it is unable to adequately respond to those everyday emergencies.

So until we have better treatment or a vaccine or the virus goes away because, you know,

maybe warm, humid weather arrives, but we do not know that for sure.

Or a miracle occurs and the pandemic just fizzles out on its own.

Unless, which is unlikely, unless these things occur, our current hope depends on social

...