Fighting Coronavirus: When Will the Lockdown End? | 3

American Innovations

Wondery

Steven Johnson, History, Kids & Family, Education For Kids, Science

4.6 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 April 2020

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Reading the forecast models that track and predict the spread of the coronavirus can feel like a glimpse into the future. And epidemiologists – the scientists behind these models – have suddenly become the most important figures in this fight. Dr. Tara Smith, an epidemiologist and professor at the Kent State University College of Public Health, talks with Steven about what most people misunderstand about these models, whether there’s an end in sight for social distancing, and why the public health sector is our “invisible shield.”

New episodes of “Fighting Coronavirus” will publish here every Tuesday, or you can listen and subscribe at https://wondery.com/shows/fighting-coronavirus/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to American innovations
0:03.6	and free on Amazon Music.
0:05.6	Download the app today.
0:07.6	From Wondery, I'm Stephen Johnson, and this is Fighting Coronavirus.
0:38.0	Over the past month, models that track and predict the spread of the coronavirus
0:45.2	have popped up everywhere.
0:47.0	They're on the front page of news sites, sharing the stage with world leaders at press conferences.
0:52.4	These are epidemiological forecasts.
0:55.4	Trying to give us insight into how fast the virus is spreading, how many ICU beds will need,
1:00.8	and, most sobering, what the total number of fatalities might be.
1:05.6	Reading these models, as a lot of us are doing right now, some of us obsessively,
1:10.4	can almost feel like looking into a crystal ball.
1:13.2	And the science behind them, epidemiology, has suddenly become the single most important
1:18.8	form of expertise in the world.
1:21.2	That's why today I'm thrilled to speak with Dr. Tara Smith.
1:24.7	She's a professor at Kent State University, where she runs the Smith Emerging Infections Laboratory.
1:30.3	She's a leading expert in the study of zoonotic diseases,
1:33.6	diseases like COVID-19, that jump from animals to humans.
1:38.0	No one knows the answers to the questions we're all asking,
1:41.6	how long will we have to stay in lockdown mode, and what will life look like when it's over?
1:46.8	But if all the experts out there, epidemiologists like Dr. Smith are the best equipped to answer them.
1:53.3	Since this all began, she's been one of the most articulate explainers of the complex ideas
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Wondery, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Wondery and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.