Outstanding COVID-19 Podcast

Excellent information. This podcast is a discussion between M.D. Peter Attia and Michael Osterholm, Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

Link: https://peterattiamd.com/michaelosterholm/

Show notes if you want to skip around:

Discussed:
Recapping the brief history of COVID-19 and what potentially lies ahead [2:15];
Some positive news about immunity and reinfection [10:45];
Case fatality rate—the challenge in finding the true rate, difference by country, and the impact of age, underlying conditions, and obesity [13:00];
What has to be true for less than 100,000 Americans to die from COVID-19? [24:30];
How do we best protect healthcare workers? [29:45];
Concerns about testing capability—reagent shortfall and a supply chain problem [39:30];
Vaccines and antivirals—The outlook, timing, and challenges [47:45];
Long term health of survivors of COVID-19 [56:45];
The impact of comorbidities—Diabetes, obesity, and immunosuppressed patients [59:30];
Understanding R0 and how the disease spreads [1:01:30];
The challenge of forecasting with so many unknowns [1:08:00];
What explains the difference in cases and fatalities in different parts of the world? [1:14:30];
Repurposed drugs/antivirals being considered for treatment options—any optimism? [1:16:45];
A parting message from Michael about what lies ahead [1:18:30]; and

Interesting points from the podcast: This expert is predicting this thing won't stop until we get herd immunity or a vaccine. To get herd immunity 70% of the population would need to get and recover from the virus. He explains in great detail why he thinks a vaccine is likely 12-18 months out.

He predicts our only option here is going to be trying to thread the needle with social distancing and various forms of "soft" lock-downs to avoid overwhelming the hospitals until we get that herd immunity or the vaccine.