E59: COVID-19 Roundtable Update - 1/18/21

COVID-19 continues to spread substantially in Arizona, leaving few corners of life untouched. You’ll hear quite a bit of discussion between our two guests about just why that is – and you will be hearing from two guests instead of three precisely because of COVID: long-time participant Dr. Nicholas Vasquez started our session at the table, but was drawn away five minutes into the recording by the urgency of another COVID fatality. In fact, as we release this episode, the U.S. will record its 400,000 death from COVID-19, and you’ll hear more perspective on that from Dr. Joshua LaBaer in a few minutes.

400,000 American deaths is a deeply troubling milestone, and urgent policy and change will be needed to slow the spread and stem the tide of hospitalizations and deaths. Please contribute to slowing down the spread: wash up, mask up, and shrink your circle. The more people we bump into, the more chance there is for COVID-19 to spread. It’s that simple. The capacity of our health care system to care for Arizonans is at stake. The well-being of our frontline health care workers is at stake. The lives of Arizonans are at stake. Do your part. Shrink your circle of contact. Be COVID-smart.

Alright, let’s get to it. It’s time to talk about where we’ve gone wrong; how we might want to think about the rules of the road going forward; the latest on operation warp speed and the warped rollout of vaccines; and when some sense of normality might return, as of January 18, 2021.