Johns Hopkins Experts on Coronavirus / COVID-19

Closed captioning and downloadable transcripts will be available later today. For more, subscribe on YouTube . COVID-19 is now a global pandemic. Businesses are shuttering, classes are canceled, and financial markets are taking significant hits. This is a critical time for information but also for the support and reassurance that science and evidence can offer.

TL;DR

Here are the highlights and some things we haven’t heard elsewhere…

• Vaccine – it’s being worked on, but will take at least 12-18 months
• Reinfection – still don’t know if possible
• Surfaces – lives on surfaces for up to 24 hours
• Cleaning products – What if I can’t find them?! Try common household products like bleach (diluted to at least 10%) or 60-70% alcohol (can be diluted to get there)
• Warm weather – they hope warmer weather will help, but don’t know
• # cases – Why isn’t it doing down?! More existing cases will be revealed as testing becomes more available; actions take 7-10 days to show up statistically because people already infected may have no/mild symptoms
• Elective medical procedures: postpone, especially if high-risk
• Social distancing just means physical – it’s even more important to stay psychologically close to loved ones e.g. with Skype, Facetime