Dr. James Hildreth, Immunologist and President of the Meharry Medical College in Nashville Speaks with CYInterview about the Coronavirus Pandemic, America’s Poor Health and What we Must Do to Successfully Move Forward
To better understand the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic, from the point of view of a medical professional with subject matter mastery in infectious disease, we bring you this compelling CYInterview with Dr. James Hildreth.
Dr. Hildreth is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. He is an immunologist with an extraordinary educational background which includes Harvard, Oxford and John Hopkins School of Medicine. He has done extensive research on HIV/AIDS, including critical work on preventing the spread of that virus.
Perhaps most importantly, James Hildreth M.D. is a kind and compassionate medical professional with extraordinary knowledge, along with the ability to break down complex topics, allowing us to understand the critical medical challenges facing us.
The current version of the coronavirus occasioning this pandemic, COVID-19, has already killed tens of thousands of Americans. Worldwide, there are millions of people who have been infected with the virus and many thousands who have died.
Experts believe social distancing has lessened the reach of the virus. Dr. Hildreth explains why we must continue in that direction, assiduously washing our hands, covering our face with a mask when we are outside and staying at home to decrease the spread of this highly contagious virus:
“Less than half of a percentage of us [the United States population, which is close to 330 million people] have been infected. So that means if we were to go right back to normal, as we’ve known before this, the virus would simply start spreading again.”
If you want to understand how contagious coronavirus is, the doctor explains how one person could infect a million people:
“We know that the doubling time of the virus can be as short as three days. So, if you do the math, one person could be responsible for a million infections in two months. That’s how contagious this virus is. So unless there’s a coordinated strategy at the national level, you’re absolutely right, it’s gonna be prolonged much longer than it needs to be.”
Dr. Hildreth says that the coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated how unhealthy many Americans are and how we need to embrace healthier lifestyles in order to have a better overall quality of life – and not simply in the face of this pandemic:
“The virus has just exposed for the whole world to see just how unhealthy we really are as a nation and I’m really hoping that this can be a wake-up call on many levels to change how we think about how we do what we do every day.”
Featured columnist Jay Bildstein joins us for this CYInterview in which we discuss the coronavirus pandemic, HIV/AIDS, America’s broken healthcare system and much more.
You will not want to miss this important 30 plus minute CYInterview, which you can listen to at the link below:
Listen to the entire Dr. James Hildreth CYInterview:
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You can find Dr. James Hildreth on Twitter by clicking here.
You can learn more about Dr. James Hildreth by clicking here.
You can find more information about Meharry Medical College by clicking here.