WEBVTT - Coronavirus Explained: Social Distancing and Flattening the Curve 0:00:02.080 --> 0:00:07.000 Welcome to coronavirus. Explain. Here's your host Gorman. Right now, 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:10.520 the entire world is dealing with the same issue, a 0:00:10.640 --> 0:00:14.680 global pandemic, from Asia to Europe to here in the 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:19.000 United States. Life is rapidly changing as communities across the 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:22.880 country work to mitigate the spread of this infectious disease. 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:25.400 Here at IHAR Radio, we want to make sure you 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:28.800 have the right information, So for the next half hour, 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:31.360 we'll talk to a few experts about a variety of 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:35.639 subjects related to COVID nineteen. In a moment, we'll talk 0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:38.680 to a top medical expert who will help explain the 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:43.480 concept of social distancing and why it's so important. We'll 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:46.280 also discuss what to do if a family member in 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:52.640 your household comes down with symptoms associated with this particular coronavirus. Also, 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:55.760 if you're someone who still works with the public, perhaps 0:00:55.760 --> 0:00:59.279 a first responder or a supermarket employee will tell you 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:02.480 some better way as to better protect yourself. I'll also 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:05.880 check in with the government response expert, who will explain 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:09.520 why it's so crucial that we flatten the curve, a 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:12.080 term I'm sure you've heard a lot recently. We'll also 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:14.840 talk about where things stand with the medical equipment and 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:20.000 supplies needed to treat coronavirus patients and help slow down 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:23.080 this spread of the disease. And finally, we'll spend some 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:26.600 time with a clinical psychologist to answer questions you may 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:30.920 have about how to discuss these extraordinary circumstances we find 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:34.280 ourselves in With children. It can be a frightening time 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:37.120 for kids as they've had their routines turned upside down 0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:40.880 and may not understand why certain changes have to be made. 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:43.200 All of that and more is on the way as 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:45.240 we try to help you better protect yourself and your 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:49.800 family and better understand how to navigate this public health crisis. 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:53.120 Our first guest is going to help us better understand 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:56.600 the virus itself. I'm joined now by the Chairman of 0:01:56.680 --> 0:02:00.320 Medicine at St. Joseph University Hospital, Dr Bob lahed Uh. 0:02:00.520 --> 0:02:04.280 Dr Lahda explain what the concept of social distancing is 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:08.240 so important and also why it's vital to keep surfaces 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:11.840 and objects clean. Well, let me take the second part first, 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:14.079 because the first part is going to require a bit 0:02:14.080 --> 0:02:18.359 of an explanation. This bug lives. This bug with its 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:22.920 nucleo capsid, which is protein around an RNA core lives 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:27.760 for two to four days on surfaces, particularly surfaces like 0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:33.520 cushions and leather and arms of chairs, and on your computer, keyboard, 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:36.400 and on your cell phone. So you've really got to 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:39.520 be careful and you've got to really cleanse these various 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:43.840 objects with wipes, with chlorox, it can be deluted clorox 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:47.480 with lysol. All of that works for this virus. It's 0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:51.120 very sensitive to those agents. Now, with regard to the 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:54.360 first part of your question, why are we quarantining? What 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:57.280 are we telling people to stay home? Because we're We're 0:02:57.280 --> 0:03:00.760 doing two strategies here. One is what I call mitigation, 0:03:01.160 --> 0:03:04.760 which focuses on slowing the infection but not stopping it, 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:07.880 and that means that we're going to reduce the peak 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:12.639 demand while protecting most people who are at risk, particularly 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:17.440 our elder population, you know, or those people with chemotherapy 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:22.320 or um heart disease, or emphysema, chronic obstructive lung disease 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:25.200 and bad asthma. And then the second thing is suppression, 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:29.880 and that's probably the more realistic approach, and what that 0:03:29.960 --> 0:03:34.200 does is reverses the epidemic growth. It reduces the case 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:37.640 numbers to such low levels that we we attempt to 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:40.040 keep and you've heard this on TV and on the radio, 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:43.920 keep the curve very low. We want there's there's gonna 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:46.280 be cases, but we don't want to exceed. We don't 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:48.280 want to go up that big hump so that all 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:50.600 of a sudden we don't have enough hospital beds. We haven't, 0:03:50.720 --> 0:03:53.520 we don't have enough m I CU beds, and everybody 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:57.200 goes nuts, which at the present time we are controlling. 0:03:57.440 --> 0:03:59.760 So I'm happy to say that suppression seems to be 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:02.280 worth king. And that's the whole idea of home isolation, 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:06.240 uh quarantine of those living in the same household as 0:04:06.480 --> 0:04:11.840 suspected people, and distancing socially the elderly and others, keeping 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:15.400 them out of supermarkets during prime time, keeping them out 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:18.839 of malls. You know, we're talking about closing malls, etcetera. 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:21.680 And I suggested that we have older people have a 0:04:21.720 --> 0:04:24.120 certain time where they can go shopping. And I was 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:27.360 told by one of my residents that that already happens. 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:30.120 That the elderly people are given from six to eight 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:33.480 in the morning in the local supermarket to buy groceries, 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:35.520 which I had no idea they were doing, which I 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:38.760 think is pretty neat what if there's a situation where 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:42.080 someone with the family household begins to feel ill. Is 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:46.559 there a way to mitigate the spread with it a home? Yes, um, 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:48.760 that is to keep that individual. And I have such 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:51.480 a case right now where I have a young woman 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:54.640 who is sneezing, coughing, and has a temperature of a 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:56.880 hundred and three, and she's home with her parents, who 0:04:56.920 --> 0:05:00.240 are both older, and she is staying by herself off 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:03.320 in her room. And of course there's a way, uh 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:06.159 to serve food to her and make sure everything is 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:09.239 wiped down and uh if she if they have a mask, 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:12.800 which God God I will I hope they do. If 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:14.920 there's a mask, even if it's a cloth mask and 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:17.479 not an end nine one of these snazzy masks that 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:20.960 are in short supply, at least keep the sneezing and 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:25.479 the coughing isolated and have only one person in that family, 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:30.440 probably a healthy youngster, go in and serve that individual 0:05:30.560 --> 0:05:34.000 food and UH and have him or her take care 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:38.320 of their toiletry needs, etcetera, in a very isolated toilet 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:41.800 someplace where no one is in contact until such time 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:46.080 as that patient symptoms go away. Now, as a as 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:49.360 an added on. The question that's been raised to me is, oh, 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:51.760 I'm home with my relatives, my mother, father, and my 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:55.120 brother sister. Do we need to test everybody in the family. 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:58.800 And the answer is no. Right now, you would want 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:02.160 the patient to be test said for regular respiratory viruses 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:07.360 like influenza or other types of coronaviruses and uh. And 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:10.560 then if that patient clears up on Thailand all or whatever, 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:13.360 not to do anything else, and not to test for 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:17.159 COVID unless the respiratory panel is negative and the patient 0:06:17.200 --> 0:06:19.760 gets sicker. And of course, for all your listeners, if 0:06:19.839 --> 0:06:23.280 anybody has problems breathing, there to go to the hospital 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:26.520 or to their doctor's office or to urgy care and 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:31.280 have themselves examined, because we can determine by listening to 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:33.480 your chest whether or not you've got pneumonia, or whether 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:36.839 whether or not you're going to be have a positive 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:40.080 X ray or positive cat scan, and then that's an emergency. 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:42.839 We're joined here on I already by the Chairman of 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:46.680 Medicine at Saint Joseph University Hospital, Dr bomb Leahida. Are 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:48.880 there any other measures that those who still have to 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:51.080 deal with the public should take, And let's start with 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:55.320 first responders and healthcare workers. Now let's take first responders. 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:58.000 I happen to be the medical director of two towns 0:06:58.040 --> 0:07:00.599 here in northern New Jersey, and all of my e 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:05.040 m T s have been educated on COVID nineteen. And 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:09.039 here's what we do. The dispatcher at the center gets 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:11.720 a call, I'm short of breath and I have a fever. 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:15.440 So he or she gets more answers to those questions, 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:19.480 dispatches an ambulance. When the ambulance arrives, we have one 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:22.720 e m T who's gowned, gloved, and wearing a mask 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:26.200 and possibly a face shield, who goes in and sees 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:30.320 the patient and evaluates the patient, verifies the temperature, may 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:33.720 listen to the patient's chest with their stethoscope. Of course, 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:36.640 might call the paramedics to come and evaluate the patient 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:39.680 if the patient is very sick. And then when the 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:43.120 patient doesn't have what appears to be the signs of 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:46.880 COVID nineteen, the rest of the team who have who 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:50.120 are wearing masks and gloves but are not so exquisitely gowned, 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:51.800 will go in and get the patient out and take 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:54.880 the patients of the hospital. So we're being very careful 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:58.120 because the first responders, like the fireman and the police 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:01.400 to the police officers, they have no choice. They have 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:04.560 to respond and they have to do so judiciously. So 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:07.680 what I'm doing is educating and I'm advising, and everybody 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:10.800 in the State Office of Emergency Management, both in New 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:14.000 York and in New Jersey knows this that our first 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:17.920 responders have to respond carefully because all we need is 0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:21.080 one positive COVID infection and knocks out the entire ambulance 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:25.040 squad and then you don't have an ambulance. Everybody's quarantined, 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:28.200 so we have to be careful. What about those working 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:32.959 in restaurants, providing food through delivery or takeout, or supermarket 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:37.240 and pharmacy employees, Well, there you have a very interesting 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:40.640 uh thing, because you know, eighty percent of the people 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:43.840 who get this infection are asymptomatic. That means they have 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:47.959 no symptoms whatsoever, but they can still be infective. So 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:52.360 what I suggest for workers in restaurants, in take out places, 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:56.520 wherever they're in in headed with the public, wherever they're 0:08:56.559 --> 0:08:59.280 face to face, they should make sure they wash their 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:03.079 hands and avoid anybody who's sneezing or coughing a dry 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:06.640 cough ree member sneezing, a dry cough, and a fever 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:09.719 are really the signs of active infection. Now, that could 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:12.719 just be influenza. It could be a regular cold, or 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:16.640 could be seasonal allergies. But it's never too much to 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:19.880 be too careful. So hand washing I got. I washed 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:23.000 my hands twenty five times a day. Hand washing is 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:26.319 very critical. And not touching your face if you're one 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:30.240 of these servers or waitresses or waiters, be careful there, 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:33.680 uh and you'll be fine. We're talking to the Chairman 0:09:33.679 --> 0:09:36.880 of Medicine at Saint Joseph University Hospital, Dr Bob Lajda 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:40.360 here on I her radio. Finally, the impact of the 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:43.240 virus on young adults. I want to touch on this. 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:45.880 We know those who are most at risk for the 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:49.240 most severe symptoms are older adults and individuals with serious 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:53.280 underlying medical issues, but we've also seen some in that 0:09:53.400 --> 0:09:57.880 millennial age group get hit hard by this disease. Just 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:01.000 because you're a certain age doesn't mean you should just 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:05.600 assume you'll be asymptomatic, right, that's correct, that's correct. We 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:07.679 have twenty year olds and thirty year olds who are 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:11.960 around respirators with the pulmonary failure because of this virus. 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:16.160 So you're not necessarily immune, and I use that that's 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:20.720 a pun your immune system. Everybody's immune system is quite different. 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:24.080 And I was reading a report from China today where 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:26.800 over a thousand children were tested below the age of 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:30.160 fifteen and a hundred of them were critically ill. So 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:33.199 children are not immune to this at all. But remember 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:36.959 that's about that's about ten of those who were ill 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:41.120 who wind up being very very ill, and so nobody 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:46.240 is totally immune, uh, to this condition. People are out 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:49.440 there who have glitches in their immune function, not just 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:53.600 those on chemotherapy and those with chronic illnesses. We don't know. 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:56.319 You'll never know what you're what your true immunity is 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:58.600 until you get infected and see what this virus does 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:01.800 to you. So that's us to be very very careful. 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:04.920 But most of the big problems come with the elderly 0:11:04.960 --> 0:11:08.560 people above the age of seventy. Chairman of Medicine at St. 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:12.520 Joseph University Hospital, Dr Bob Lihida. Dr Lohita, thank you 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:14.640 for taking the time to help us better understand the 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:18.400 medical issues related to COVID nineteen. We appreciate it. Oh 0:11:18.400 --> 0:11:20.720 It's my appreciation to give out good information, and I 0:11:20.760 --> 0:11:23.319 hope we speak again. Next, let's turn to an expert 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:25.360 who can shed some light on the local, state, and 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:29.160 federal response to the coronavirus outbreak and why flattening the 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:32.480 curve is so vital for our health care system. Joining 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:35.720 me now is a former counter terrorism and community outreach 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:38.439 official and former chief spokesman for the New York City 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:42.440 Office of Emergency Management, and Jared Bernstein. Jared, thank you 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:44.960 for joining us here on iHeart Radio. Things are moving 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:48.280 fast these days, and new challenges related to the coronavirus 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:52.120 outbreak continue to emerge. People are hearing a lot about 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:54.800 the need to flatten the curve, and I want to 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:58.480 make sure they fully understand what that means and why 0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:02.080 it's so important. Can you explain what could happen if 0:12:02.120 --> 0:12:05.520 we don't get ahead of the spread. Sure, well, you know, 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:09.440 we can have an unprecedented UH outbreak here where we 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:12.839 have you know, larger and larger percentages of the population, 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:17.199 particularly people with underlying medical conditions and older people get sick, 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:21.000 get tremendously sick and require the use of ventilators and 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:26.040 quickly overwhelm our impatient hospital capacities and certainly overwhelmed our 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:28.960 number of ventilators that we have on hand. There is 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:32.760 a stockpile of ventilators at the federal government mainteam for 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:37.760 scenarios like this that is quietly being deployed, but really 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:41.160 that even that stockpile could be overwhelmed if people don't 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:46.079 exercise the universal precautions here and use some social distancing 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:48.480 and really listen to authorities when they say stay at 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:51.360 home unless you are at first responder, healthcare worker or 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:54.600 other coal employees. And if things get out of control. 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:57.360 In addition to an issue with ventilators, you can also 0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:00.280 have a shortage of hospital beds, right, yeah, I mean 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:03.280 there's some some of the scenarios are are truly scary. 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:07.400 I think that's why you saw the President authorized the 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:10.680 deployment of a Navy hospital ship to New York, which 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:15.080 brings another thousand beds of hospital capacity. You know, in 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:17.640 the last ten years, more and more things that you 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:19.280 used to need to go to the hospital for and 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:22.480 stay over for it to in an outpatient setting. And 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:25.640 so because of that, hospitals have actually gotten smaller and 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:29.079 smaller in terms of the number of inpatient beds and Unfortunately, 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:31.880 when you have a pandemic situation like this, that kind 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:36.720 of downsizing, which is good overall, is not good in 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:40.400 the pandemic situation. We're talking to former counter terrorism and 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:43.320 community outreach official and former chief spokesman for the New 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:47.319 York City Office of Emergency Management, Jared Bernstein. One issue 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:51.679 in particular that's gaining more and more attention are shortages 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:57.000 of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers and supplies needed 0:13:57.040 --> 0:13:59.840 to conduct the tests. We're seeing more and more tests 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:03.120 being allocated across the country, but you need supplies to 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:06.560 actually conduct the tests. Talk a little bit about that 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:09.240 and the measures government officials can take to try to 0:14:09.240 --> 0:14:13.280 meet the demand. You know, government, government organizations are really 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:15.560 they are having to be very judicious about how they 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:21.280 apply how they deploy resources, everything from ventilators to masks, gowns, 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:25.920 rubber gloves and masks. And that's going to be how 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:28.680 we get through this in the long long haul. Fortunately, 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:32.280 our supply system will catch up probably in the next 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:34.960 you know, thirty days, will have more and more production 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:39.120 capacity coming online. Uh, the manufacturers of the nine masks 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:41.280 only makes so many in a year because that's what 0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:44.400 the demand is. But they've certainly ramped up production, and 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:46.680 that's something that we're all going to have to just 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:50.240 be very judicious at every level of government, making sure 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:53.120 that only the responders that need them get them, but 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:56.000 that every responder who does need them get them. And 0:14:56.000 --> 0:14:59.360 while we're on the topic of supplies, despite the fact 0:14:59.360 --> 0:15:01.000 that a lot times when you go to the grocery 0:15:01.000 --> 0:15:03.040 store these days, they're out of a whole bunch of 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:07.520 different items, there really hasn't been a disruption in terms 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:11.120 of the amount of supplies that we have for these 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:14.600 stores or the ability to get those kinds of supplies, 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:17.600 whether it's toilet paper, paper towels, those kinds of products 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:21.080 to supermarkets. Right know, what you're really seeing is a 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:24.320 little bit of panic buying, um, where they're short terms, 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:28.120 short term shortages, but they will usually last less than 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:31.920 a week um. And you know, it just takes a 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:36.000 while for supermarkets to sort of restock because there again 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:40.960 not used to selling, uh, you know, as much toilet 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:43.680 paper as they normally sell, and so their supply chain 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:45.960 is sort of not always set up for that. But 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:49.040 you will see in the next few days that h 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:51.920 that that supply chain will sort of start to catch up, 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:55.280 and you know, as long as people can get to 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:57.920 the grocery stores, there will be grocery, you know, the 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:01.520 grocer We've not seen any problems with supply chains like 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:04.400 that so far. There was an interesting situation that took 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:07.680 place recently at Chicago Midway Airport. It involved a couple 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:10.520 of individuals who worked in the air traffic control tower 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:14.880 testing positive for COVID nineteen and contingency plans had to 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:17.040 be put in place. Talk a little bit about some 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:21.360 essential professions doing that planning and how important it is 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:25.120 to have a contingency plan to go to. Yeah, that's 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:26.880 a really great question, a really great point. You know, 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:31.040 every one of these critical UH pieces of infrastructure, they 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:34.760 are going through what's called a continuity of operations plans. 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:38.200 That's something that they do typically on an ongoing basis, 0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:42.040 but for sure, UH they placed renewed emphasis on it 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:45.440 in the last few weeks. UM that in many cases 0:16:45.920 --> 0:16:49.800 involved dividing up your teams into separate teams where people 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:52.800 don't overlap. So that way, if you have somebody get 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:54.640 sick on one or more of the teams, you can 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:59.040 still stretch out your existing team into UM, make sure 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:02.040 you fill all the spots that you need to and 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:04.280 that's going on from everything from air traffic control to 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:09.000 firefighters and these police officers, uh you kill public utilities, 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:13.439 any kind of critical infrastructure. Everybody's going through this continuity 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:17.000 of operations planning to space out their critical folks so 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:19.600 that if somebody gets sick, you don't uh you don't 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:21.720 you know, have some you know, lose the whole operation. 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:25.159 We're talking to former counter terrorism and community outreach official 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:27.399 and former chief spokesman from the New York City Office 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:31.720 of Emergency Management, Jared Bernstein as somebody who used to 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:36.560 deal with counter terrorism talk a little bit about our 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:40.960 government's ability to handle this pandemic while also working to 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:44.119 keep America safe. Yeah, I mean it's a significant challenge. 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:46.639 I think that, you know, having those uh sort of 0:17:46.680 --> 0:17:49.760 twofold challenges of the pandemic and people who are out 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:53.480 to disrupt our way of life in whatever whatever way. 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:57.160 You know, it's something that's been planned for for lots 0:17:57.160 --> 0:17:59.639 and lots of years. Ever Sinceeptember eleventh. How do we 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:03.040 face multiple threats at once? Uh be they you know, 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:05.200 maybe it's a hurricane and then we want to make sure, 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:07.919 you know, after a hurricane we're prepared to deal with 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:11.479 a tax on our critical infrastructure. So you know, I 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:14.320 think when you when you you know, wonder what our 0:18:14.320 --> 0:18:16.720 public employees are being paid for and the next time 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:19.680 collective bargaining agreement has come up, and we wonder why 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:22.879 paying people what we're paying? Uh, you know it should 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:25.320 be No, it's not lost that that the police officers 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:27.840 police Department doesn't get the ticket day off, you know, 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:30.320 Customs and Boarder Protection doesn't get to ticket day off, 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:33.080 The FBI doesn't get to take a day off. And 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:35.000 so they need to figure out ways to work through 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:36.600 that because there are still people who are out to 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:39.160 hurt us stump that way of life. And so that's 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:42.000 a very real concern and we'll have to you know, 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:44.560 we're all gonna have to pitch in here. Uh. The 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:46.440 flip side of that is that because there are lots 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:49.199 and lots of you know, far fewer people out on 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:53.080 our streets and out in general circulation. Uh, those who are, 0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:55.520 we're probably gonna get a little bit more scrutiny on them. 0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:58.280 So if you're a bad guy out trying to plan 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:01.200 some bad things, uh, and you're out there when everybody 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:03.080 is being told to stay home, You're probably going to 0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:07.960 arouse some suspicion, uh and and stick out in terms of, 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:10.399 you know, attracting the attention of law enforcements or it 0:19:10.400 --> 0:19:13.080 does cut both. Please, but certainly it's a challenge that 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:15.560 we have to overcome in the nation. Final question for you. 0:19:15.680 --> 0:19:18.280 Lockdowns have started to go into effect in some parts 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:21.880 of the country, most notably San Francisco. What kind of 0:19:21.960 --> 0:19:24.840 general powers do local government, states, and of course the 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:30.320 federal government have during a pandemic. You know, most states 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:34.480 and mayors, you know, cities have a curfew authority. UM. 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:38.040 It really depends upon the individual city code and how 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:41.160 that city code interacts with state law. UM. You saw 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:44.040 in New York there's a little bit of the difference 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:46.960 of opinion at the moment between Mayor di Blasio and 0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:50.639 Governor Cuomo about who has what power to do what. 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:54.560 Generally speaking, when you bring out the national Guard, only 0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:57.840 the governor or the president the United States can can 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:01.480 bring out the national guard for police type actions. UM, 0:20:01.600 --> 0:20:04.160 and the mayors typically can't do that. So I think 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:06.840 that you know that it varies from state to state, 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:09.960 and and you know, it's very difficult to do the 0:20:10.080 --> 0:20:13.320 larger the scale, the harder it is. In San Francisco, 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:16.040 they've done something where they are allowing people to go 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:20.159 to the grocery store, to go outside and exercise, but 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:26.200 they are basically curtailing pretty much everything else. Um, and 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:29.680 I know that you know that that is something lots 0:20:29.680 --> 0:20:31.880 of other cities in America are looking at right now. 0:20:32.280 --> 0:20:35.760 Former counter terrorism and Community Outreach official and former chief 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:38.880 spokesman from the New York City Office of Emergency Management 0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:42.240 Jared Bernstein, Jared, thank you again for the time and insight. 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:45.560 We appreciate it. Thank you. Finally, to offer advice on 0:20:45.600 --> 0:20:49.560 how to explain to children this major disruption of everyday life. 0:20:49.600 --> 0:20:53.080 We're joined by Dr Jamie Howard, clinical psychologist at the 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:57.359 Child Mind Institutes Anxiety Disorder Center and the director of 0:20:57.440 --> 0:21:00.880 the center's Trauma and Resilience Service, who's been a leading 0:21:00.960 --> 0:21:04.679 voice on talking to kids about the coronavirus. Dr Howard, 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:07.960 there's so many things occupying the minds of parents these days, 0:21:07.960 --> 0:21:12.040 as everyone's life has been completely flipped upside down. One 0:21:12.080 --> 0:21:15.160 issue that could easily get overlooked is how children are 0:21:15.240 --> 0:21:19.280 processing so many changes. What's your most important piece of 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:24.520 advice for parents during this coronavirus pandemic. My most important 0:21:24.560 --> 0:21:27.960 piece of advice would be that parents should definitely talk 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:30.240 to their kids, even if you think they already know 0:21:30.359 --> 0:21:34.240 everything that's going on, even if you think they don't 0:21:34.240 --> 0:21:37.560 have any questions. You definitely want to have an open 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:40.080 line of communication, and when you do talk to them, 0:21:40.119 --> 0:21:44.240 you want to model sort of calm emotions. Um, it's 0:21:44.240 --> 0:21:47.159 okay to say, you know, I'm feeling I'm feeling worried 0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:50.360 about grandma, Grandma, I'm feeling frustrated, But you don't want 0:21:50.359 --> 0:21:53.560 to do too much processing of your own emotions and 0:21:53.600 --> 0:21:56.000 you don't want to appear to distressed in front of 0:21:56.040 --> 0:21:58.920 your kids. What do parents say to their children about 0:21:58.920 --> 0:22:03.320 a break and visits to grandma and grandpa, older relatives 0:22:03.400 --> 0:22:05.880 that they just can't see right now that perhaps they're 0:22:05.960 --> 0:22:09.320 used to seeing on a regular basis. Yeah, it's so 0:22:09.320 --> 0:22:11.960 it's really tricky for younger kids. I would say, you know, 0:22:12.080 --> 0:22:15.600 kids who are ten enough probably would understand, right, They 0:22:15.600 --> 0:22:18.800 really get sort of the catchiness of certain illnesses for 0:22:18.920 --> 0:22:21.840 younger kids. Though they do talk a lot about um, 0:22:22.200 --> 0:22:25.119 good hygiene in preschools, washing your hands a lot because 0:22:25.119 --> 0:22:27.240 of germs who can sort of build on that kind 0:22:27.280 --> 0:22:30.200 of conversation and you can say, Grandma and Grandpa really 0:22:30.240 --> 0:22:33.320 want to see you, or we really want to see them. 0:22:33.640 --> 0:22:35.960