Hello and welcome to the Oster Home Update, COVID-19, a weekly podcast on the COVID-19

pandemic with Dr. Michael Oster Home. Dr. Oster Home is an internationally recognized

medical detective and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy

or CITRAP at the University of Minnesota. In this podcast, Dr. Oster Home will draw on

more than 45 years of experience investigating infectious disease outbreaks to provide

straight talk on the COVID-19 pandemic. I'm Chris Doll, reporter for CITRAP News,

and I'm your host for these conversations.

It's September 3rd, and there have been more than 6 million COVID-19 cases in the US since

the start of the pandemic. 6 million infections from a virus to its decimated families and communities,

shut down an entire economy, and put millions out of work, and left public health officials

grasping for answers. And while new infections are slowing and gains are being made in some parts

of the country, the US is still a long way from getting the pandemic under control.

On this episode of the Oster Home Update, we'll discuss what that number means, how we got here,

and what lies ahead. We'll also tackle some controversial theories on herd immunity,

answer listener questions on COVID-19 and pregnancy, examine the potential danger of an

October Surprise vaccine announcement, and talk about how we assess COVID-19 risk.

But before we get to all of that, Dr. Oster and we'll tell us who he's dedicating this episode

of the podcast to. Oh, thank you, Chris. It's good to be with you again, and with all the audience.

Thank you for joining us. On behalf of the entire CITRAP team, we appreciate your listening to us,

and sharing your day with us, trying to understand as much as we can what's going on with this

crazy, horrible pandemic. And in that regard, every time we do one of these podcasts, it's a

gift to us to be able to share this information with you. So thank you very, very much for being

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