Last Thursday, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Americans to rethink their Thanksgiving plans. Reactions have been mixed. Some people agree with public health officials. Others are outraged. Regardless of the reaction, one thing’s for sure: People are already feeling down about the holidays.

According to one recent poll, less than a quarter of Americans are equally or more excited about the upcoming holidays as they were in 2019. Three in four people say they are less (or much less) excited to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

The question is: should we gather? For Dr. Robert Pearl, this question is “Déjà vu all over again. The same lessons are having to be learned again, and again, and again. We tend to leap to the conclusion rather than starting where I believe we should, with the facts.”

This episode of Coronavirus: The Truth addresses the all-important holiday question, along with the following questions about the coronavirus pandemic:

[00:47] What was the biggest news concerning the coronavirus this past week and what does it mean?

[03:22] Why are some drug makers halting treatment and vaccine trials?

[05:30] Why have premature births dropped significantly during the pandemic?

[07:08] Cases on college campuses are still surging. What, specifically, isn’t working?

[08:55] Should we cancel/scale-back our Thanksgiving plans per Dr. Fauci?

[13:26] Two Harvard economists claim Covid-19 will cost the country $16 trillion: Accurate or alarmist?

[16:41] Why are Black Americans more skeptical of a coronavirus vaccine?

[18:53] Which two groups of Americans are struggling most to maintain social relationships?  

[21:11] How has the culture of medicine helped (and harmed) patients during the pandemic? (For more on this subject, check out the new episode of Fixing Healthcare, featuring Dr. Zubin Damania, aka ZDoggMD) 

[25:14] Are patients too optimistic, too pessimistic or reasonably objective when it comes to the vaccine timeline?

[28:26] Why does Dr. Pearl believe 500,000 people will die from Covid-19. Listeners wanted to know more about this number and how you derived it. Can you tell them?

This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms.

If you have coronavirus questions for the hosts, please visit the contact page or send us a message on Twitter or LinkedIn.

*To ensure the credibility of this program, Coronavirus: The Truth refuses to accept sponsorship, outside funding sources or guests with any financial or personal conflicts of interest.

The post #23: Should I cancel my Thanksgiving plans? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.