Responding to the Coronavirus Pandemic— a 90-minute video featuring eight experts from Yale and the city of New Haven—was released today (March 19) to inform the public and policymakers on the latest developments in the global public health emergency.
Gregg Gonsalves, assistant professor at the Yale School of Public Health, moderated the virtual town hall, which provides analysis and updates from experts on important aspects of the outbreak, including disease symptoms, possible long-term scenarios and best measures for personal protection.
As a safety precaution, all of the panelists participated remotely. More than 400 questions from the public were submitted beforehand and panelists did their best to respond to the most common themes.
“This is a public health emergency and we need to provide the latest and best information for people to make informed decisions,” said Gonsalves. “We plan to follow this video up with others in the near future.”
Panelists in the video addressed the following topics:
- What is coronavirus? Is it “like” the flu? What are its symptoms, its prognosis for different risk groups? Ellen Foxman, Assistant Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine
- What are the possible scenarios that could play out over the next few weeks and months? How bad might it get? Sten Vermund, Dean and Anna M.R. Lauder Professor of Public Health, Yale School of Public Health
- What can we do to protect ourselves, our families, our communities? Ann Kurth, Dean and Linda Lorimer Professor, Yale School of Nursing
- How can we cope with the changes in our lives we’re being asked to make? Rajita Sinha, Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine
- What can we do to ensure our rights our being respected? Amy Kapczynski, Professor, Yale School of Law
- What is Yale doing? Paul Genecin, Chief Executive Officer, Yale Health
- What is New Haven doing? Mehul Dalal, Community Services Director, City of New Haven
- What is Yale-New Haven Hospital doing? Sunil Parikh, Associate Professor, Yale School of Public Health
This is the second town hall that Yale has convened to address the outbreak. The first on February 6 was a traditional town hall with panelists and audience members all in the same room. It can be viewed here.