Back in January, Tommy Vittor asked me to join him on PodSave the World to talk about a new virus out of Wuhan, China.

He wanted to know, was it getting too much attention? And here's what I told him.

And so if you're looking for something you can do to keep yourself healthy in the context of coronavirus, go get a flu shot.

Hmm, okay, good. I did that for once.

To be clear, that's still good advice. Get your damn flu shot.

When we talked, there were about 4,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide.

I was a little more optimistic then. But fast forward six weeks.

The World Health Organization today declared the coronavirus a global pandemic.

A ban on travel concerns about the coronavirus, coronavirus pandemic that you can't spin death.

Right now, there are over 125,000 cases worldwide, and over 4,000 people have died.

The World Health Organization just declared this a global pandemic.

And it's right here in the good ol' US of A, where we've had over 1200 confirmed cases, and 37 people have died.

So, in this second season of America Dissected, we'll be keeping you updated on what you need to know about coronavirus.

And we'll go deeper on what led us to this crisis, and explore the policies that can lead us out.

My name is Dr. Abdul-Elsaid. I'm a physician, epidemiologist, and former City Health Commissioner.

I've spent my whole career thinking about and preparing for health crises like the one we're facing now.

I want to share these insights and interview folks from the front lines, from research to action, to help you understand this pandemic, and what we can do about it.

There's a lot of info out there, and a lot of breaking news.

So, my mission here is to keep you informed, but not overwhelmed.

We'll be doing updates twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays, and exploring every aspect of this.

I'm not here to tell you how to wash your hands or cough in your elbow, but you should do both of those things, and specifically washing your hands for 20 seconds with warm water and soap.

Instead, I'll be explaining what you need to know when it comes to the science and the policy response, or lack thereof.

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