In this special episode, Dr. Lena and Dr. Dean talk about disease due to the novel coronavirus and the COVID-19 pandemic. We discuss major developments this week including the current status of the pandemic, how easing social distancing has impacted cases, how Black Americans are disproportionately affected, and the surprising new evidence about the effectiveness of masks in reducing transmission.
Note that the information provided was accurate at the time this episode was recorded, but that this is a rapidly changing situation.
This episode written by Drs. Dean Blumberg and Lena van der List.
Supplemental information:

* Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) COVID-19 Projections for US

* CDC Coronavirus Disease 2019 Case Surveillance — United States, January 22–May 30, 2020, MMWR early release June 15 2020

* Stutt et al A modelling framework to assess the likely effectiveness of facemasks in combination with 'lock-down' in managing the COVID-19 pandemic

* Chu et al Physical distancing, face masks, and eye protection to prevent person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis

* UC Davis Children’s Hospital Coronavirus (COVID-19) resources for parents

Photo of Figure 4 from The Proceedings of the Royal Society Stutt article showing the effect on Re of the proportion of the population wearing a facemask. The solid line is the mean and the shaded area shows the 95% confidence interval. By the public wearing an effective facemask all of the time (rather than just starting when COVID-19 symptoms appear), the Re can be brought below 1, leading to the pandemic dying out.