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The U.S. is 'not in any way out of the woods' with COVID-19 fight: Expert

Emergency Physician and Visiting Professor at George Washington University School of Public Health Dr. Leana Wen joins Yahoo Finance’s Akiko Fujita to discuss the new global hotspots for the COVID-19 as the U.S. approaches 100,000 deaths due to the pandemic.

Video Transcript

AKIKO FUJITA: Well, the death toll for COVID-19 cases here in the US approaching a very grim milestone-- 99,674 deaths confirmed in the US so far. Even as the US appears to be moving past its peak, South America is struggling to contain the infections from the virus. Brazil reporting more virus-related deaths than the US over the last 24 hours. It now has more than 391,000 confirmed cases-- Chile and Peru also right up there in terms of the number of infections going up.

We are joined by Dr. Leana Wen. She is the emergency physician and visiting professor at George Washington University school of public health. Doctor Wen, it's always good to talk to you.

LEANA WEN: Nice to talk with you too.

AKIKO FUJITA: I want to start with what's happening in South America right now, because, you know, we have been tracking over the last two months just how difficult, it is even in developed nations, to contain this virus with a hospital system in place. And I'm wondering, as you look to what's happening in Brazil as well as places like Peru, you know, what worries you the most?

LEANA WEN: Well, we know that diseases know no boundaries, and that our response as a world is only so strong as the weakest of our countries. And I do very much worry-- I mean, we've known about such problems from past epidemics as well-- that we can have the best infrastructure in our own countries, but we also need to have robust infrastructure all around the world in order for us to have a concerted response.

I think we see this just in the US as well. Now that the outbreak is spreading to places that don't have such strong health care and public health infrastructure, we're going to really struggle to contain COVID-19. And we need to be bolstering our preparedness and response all throughout the country and throughout the world.

AKIKO FUJITA: What we've learned over the stay at home measures in the US is just how mobile we normally are, even before all of this. You know, now we're talking about the epicenter shifting to a place like South America, but clearly, there's travel issues that will pop up. I mean, what are you thinking in terms of the spillover impact that could happen if things are not contained there, given that we're still in recovery mode here in the US?

LEANA WEN: That's right. You're right that we are not in any way out of the woods here in the US at all. We're seeing a plateau in the number of cases as a whole in the US. But actually, we are seeing also spikes in communities all around the country. And that plateau, even if it stays that way, is still at a very high level-- meaning a high number of hospitalizations, suffering, and death, unfortunately.

And so we need to get our own outbreak under control here. But certainly, we need to keep an eye on what is happening around the world. And overall, we need better surveillance. We need to have better testing, contact tracing, quarantining, isolation capacity, because this is a virus that's going to be with us until we have a vaccine. We have no chance of keeping this virus contained unless we have these other public health measures in place to help us to do so.

AKIKO FUJITA: You talk about the importance of contact tracing and being able to track where the infections are popping up here in the US. What we have seen as states reopen is a very fragmented approach. And that certainly has sort of muddled the picture, if you will, in terms of where we are in the recovery process. You just published an op-ed in the "Washington Post" saying, essentially, that the strategy needs to be harm reduction. What does that mean?

LEANA WEN: There is a concept in public health called harm reduction, which refers to the fact that if you are going to be engaging in risky behavior, at least what you can do is to try to reduce that risk as much as you can. Unfortunately at this point in the US, the horse has left the barn. It's too bad that we're in this position. We had a chance to rein in the infection earlier to keep it under control, but we have not been able to do so.

And we're at this point where we are reopening, despite it being not actually safe to do so. And we don't have the capabilities yet established to do so. But if that's the case and people are going back to work anyway, we have to do our best to reduce the harm for workers, reduce the harm for students, and really for all of us. So while we get that testing, tracing, isolation capacity under control, reduce our own risk. Think about the fact that just because things are reopened doesn't mean that we have to do it all.

If we really have to get something done like getting our haircut, don't also go to a restaurant. If we have to go back to work, do that, but don't go about your normal social interactions. Keep that physical distancing, wash your hands, do all these public health hygiene best practices to reduce the risk to ourselves and one another.

AKIKO FUJITA: Finally, I want to get your thoughts, Dr. Wen, on this vaccine race. You know, we saw yesterday Merck making a big announcement that they are putting their hat in the ring. But we heard from Ken Frazier, the CEO there, saying, essentially, that the 12 to 18-month timeline that we keep hearing over and over is very aggressive. You know, he essentially said, look, if you are going to make a vaccine for millions of people, you've got to make sure it's safe. And 12 to 18 months may not be enough time. How are you viewing that dynamic right now?

LEANA WEN: I think 12 to 18 months is extremely optimistic. I hope that all the pieces align. It will certainly be the fastest that we've ever done this. I think that we should be prepared for the long haul. We should be prepared for multiple vaccine candidates being developed and tested. I certainly hope that we get to the place that we find a candidate that is both safe and effective, and that manufacturing can begin in the meantime.

Because you're right-- it will take a long time not just to find safety and efficacy and do those studies, but also to manufacture hundreds of millions of doses and get those delivered to people. We also have to contend with the fact that maybe that vaccine is not going to be 100%. Maybe we need multiple doses of the vaccine. Maybe it needs to be given every year or every other year. And so I think all these factors have to be taken into consideration as we think about the fact that, for now, we are living with this virus, and we have to mitigate, reduce that risk as much as we can.

AKIKO FUJITA: Yes, certainly still a long road ahead. Dr. Leana Wen, always good to talk to you.

LEANA WEN: Thank you.

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