Dr. Howard Markell studies the history of medicine at University of Michigan.

But right now, he's probably better known for the work he did with the CDC a few years back.

He's one of the doctors who came up with the idea of social distancing.

Yeah, that's my baby.

Did you ever expect that these recommendations would be

implemented in your lifetime? Well, I hope they wouldn't. Dr. Markell's recommendations,

they were made official U.S. policy back in 2007, which is how so many states ended up locking themselves down this

spring. We only suggested it for worst-case scenarios like 1918 or today with COVID, a very

deadly, voracious viral pandemics. And I felt very proud of that work, and I still am.

And I'm incredibly gratified that social distancing has become a major means of saving lives.

But at the same time, I'm horrified because I had never wanted us to implement these measures.

Because who wants a pandemic? Nobody.

I wanted to talk to Dr. Markell because it seems like his big idea for squashing a pandemic

is coming to a dramatic end. States are reopening and protesters are filling the streets, many of them in masks,

sure, but very few of them are standing six feet apart. This weekend, the pictures that

captivated me were images of sheer volume, thousands of people peacefully streaming down

streets all across the country.

I mean, for you as a doctor and as someone very concerned with transmission of COVID-19,

I wonder if you maybe see those videos a little bit differently than I do.

Well, I do because as a doctor who studies and worries and stays up late at night

thinking about pandemics, this is a nightmare.

Dr. Markell is not trying to be a scold here.

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