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.

I'm your host for these conversations.

It's September 10th and as the nation enters the seventh month since the COVID-19 pandemic began,

the stress of living with the coronavirus and not knowing when the pandemic will end is taking

its toll on people's mental health. Many Americans are feeling isolated, anxious, angry, and fearful.

Studies are showing that the prevalence of depression among US adults is on the rise,

and parents report that both there and their children's mental and behavioral health have worsened.

Later on in this episode of the Oster Home Update, we'll discuss the COVID-19 pandemic's

impact on mental health. But first we'll get an update from Dr. Oster Home on the current state

of the pandemic. Look at the challenges that colleges and universities are facing as they try to

limit the spread of the coronavirus on campus and examine the latest news on vaccines.

And as always, we'll start with Dr. Oster Home's dedication.

Mike, who receives the honours this week?

Thanks Chris. It's good to be with you again. Thank you for being here with me and sharing this

experience. And let me say in who I'm dedicating this to gives you some sense of what this

particular episode means to me. I'm dedicating this to all the mental health providers and

professionals across the land. Whatever area you're in, whether you're a psychiatrist, a psychologist,

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