Public Health On Call

As restrictions lift and businesses think about reopening, many aren't sure what they should consider in order to protect their employees and customers. Lucia Mullen and Dr. Crystal Watson co-authored a toolkit for businesses that includes checklists to follow and suggested modifications to put in place before reopening. They talk with Stephanie Desmon about how businesses can assess risk and create solutions that fit their budgets and resources.

Until now, the focus of this podcast has been on COVID-19. Today, we are broadening the podcast to cover other urgent public health issues starting with racism, police violence, and the national protests over the homicide of George Floyd. Dr. Josh Sharfstein talks with Baltimore author, artist, and activist Chris Wilson about his experiences both in and out of the prison system, his reflections on "unstacking the deck" against people of color, and the role of art in healing, documenting, and storytelling during galvanizing moments.

What can people do to reduce their risk of contracting COVID-19 during a protest? Do higher-risk patients ever have mild novel coronavirus or do they always get very sick? When is it ok to resume routine medical and dental care? Will people who have had COVID-19 be eligible for a vaccine when it's available? Are gloves necessary like masks?

To what extent has COVID-19 affected Americans' mental health? In this episode, guest host Colleen Barry speaks to Beth McGinty, lead author of a new study which finds a significant increase in psychological distress among adults in the U.S. in April at the height of social distancing. Dr. Dani Fallin, Chair of the Department of Mental Health, also discusses mental health as a public health issue more broadly and ways to protect our own mental health and those of others during these stressful times and beyond.

Long term care facilities that house vulnerable populations in a communal living setting have been hotbeds for COVID-19 outbreaks. Infectious disease physician Dr. Morgan Katz has been working with some facilities to provide guidance on COVID-19 response. She talks with Stephanie Desmon about infection control procedures, how testing is a double edged sword, the biggest lessons we've learned so far, and what the future of long term care facilities may look like.

Underlying medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and Type II diabetes are risk factors for critical illness or death from COVID-19. Just as these chronic health issues disproportionately impact different racial and ethnic groups in the US, so too is COVID-19. Dr. Eduardo Sanchez of the American Heart Association talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about how the US's failure to address the underlying health of its populations is contributing to COVID-19 fatalities and what needs to be done to preserve the health, wellbeing, and the economic viability of our nation.

Dr. Julie Gerberding was director of the CDC during the 2003 SARS outbreak and lessons learned from that response are now informing her work overseeing some 65,000 employees around the world as executive vice president of Merck. Gerberding talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the US's response, how Merck is keeping things moving, why emerging infectious diseases may be a new normal, and how the pandemic is contributing to the threat of antimicrobial resistance.

How do you deal with things you can't control? How do we decide what actions are right for ourselves and our families without judging others in the process? What is contributing to COVID-19 stigma? How do we consider the future without feeling overwhelmed? Clinical psychologist Dr. Laura Murray returns for another round of mental health Q&A with Stephanie Desmon.

As of recording, there were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lesotho, a country in southern Africa. But the country borders South Africa which has close to 5,000 cases, and shares a migrant workforce that has been coming home to Lesotho amidst shutdowns. Dr. Tafadzwa Chakare, technical director for Jhpiego in Lesotho, talks with guest host Dr. Sara Bennett about the challenges of managing the pandemic in highly mobile, migrant populations.

Johns Hopkins Hospital paused elective surgeries (surgeries that are scheduled ahead of time) in March. Like some of his other colleagues, Dr. Rick Redett volunteered to be redeployed to the COVID ICU. Redett talks to Stephanie Desmon about exhausting shifts, the challenges of shifting from surgery to supportive care, and how things may be different as surgeries resume.