When the COVID-19 pandemic began, our founder held weekly public health office hours on Instagram Live throughout May 2020. We’ve been asked to bring those back, however, it is not feasible at this moment. Instead, we asked to our social media followers to send their public health questions to be answered on thekroun.com each week. As you may have guessed by the title of this week’s Q&A post, all the questions we received were about COVID-19. We’ll be doing these public health Q&A posts every week for the remainder of this calendar year. Don’t worry, you won’t get tired of reading the same questions and answers. The field of public health is deep and our knowledge of it is extensive. Let’s dive right in, shall we?

1)    Why won’t the ‘rona leave us alone?!

In my professional public health opinion, there are several reasons. 1) Several of our elected leaders don’t care about public health; 2) Our healthcare system is fragmented; 3) We do not have herd immunity nor a vaccine; and 4) Americans’ behaviors are unpredictable and often self-gratifying. Meaning there are some people who simply won’t adhere to disease transmission control advice of public health experts. This is a small portion of the problem, as I believe the first 2 reasons are the bulk of why the US can’t see any reprieve from this pandemic. But behavior surely plays a role. 

2)    I don’t believe that the coronavirus just showed up. It’s been here. Why do your people [I assume they mean scientists and public health experts] keep calling it a new [novel] virus?

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 is new to humans. We have not seen this virus “set up shop” in a human host before the first diagnosed case in Wuhan, China in December 2019. There are two other coronaviruses that we have seen before - SARS and MERS. I outline these viruses in my public health office hours recap blog post. 

3)    How much longer will we need to practice social distancing, physical distancing, and mask wearing?

In my professional public health/epidemiologic opinion, we will need to continue 1) practicing social distancing (staying at home unless it’s necessary for you to leave) until there is a safe and efficacious vaccine for everyone; and 2) practicing physical distancing (staying at least 6-feet away from others) and mask wearing even after a safe, efficacious vaccine is made available to everyone. 

4)    What does it mean to be a “long-hauler”?

Public health experts and medical doctors are noting that a coronavirus long-hauler is a person who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and continues to experience its varying symptoms for weeks or months after they have had active disease. The problem here is that there is still very little known about this group of COVID-19 patients. Scientists are still studying if having pre-existing comorbidities, being a part of a certain age group, or having mild or severe COVID-19 disease puts someone at higher risk for being a long-hauler. It’s still too early in the scientific research of this disease to definitively characterize this group. However, some physicians say that most long-haulers they treat don’t have lasting fevers. So, it is unlikely that they are still contagious – though this may change as new research emerges. The Cleveland Clinic wrote a nice Q&A blog detailing all of this. 

5)    Do you know anyone personally who has had COVID-19?

Yes. I have had 5 family members diagnosed with COVID-19 and my husband has had 3. Some of which have had severe symptoms and will possibly be living with severe sequelae after the virus has cleared their systems. This is why the line that I’ve drawn in the sand regarding social distancing, physical distancing when I’m out only for essentials, and wearing a mask when I’m out only for essentials is immovable. I refuse to put my life, or the lives of my husband and daughter in jeopardy for anyone or anything. It is NOT worth it. I’ve witnessed the horror, anxiety, fear, sickness of this pandemic first-hand. There is absolutely NO need for me to take that risk.