A new U of T podcast hosted by Professor Vivek Goel will offer timely and reliable information about the COVID-19 pandemic as it unfolds.
“We want this podcast to be an informed source people can go to hear about what’s next for the pandemic,” says Goel, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives.
“Our goal is to help make sense of the complex and often conflicting messages about COVID-19 that are bombarding Canadians.”
Goel, a professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, is a renowned public health expert and founding head of Public Health Ontario, set up in response to the SARS outbreak.
In the first episode he looks at social distancing, what ‘flattening the curve’ means, and what measures can be taken to prepare our health care system to help protect the most vulnerable and develop wider public immunity to the virus.
“Flattening the curve does not stop the disease altogether. What it means is that instead of having a huge surge of cases all at once, we spread them out more evenly so we don’t overwhelm the health care system,” he says.
The weekly podcast will be available on the U of T homepage. The next episode looks at the crucial next steps that will be needed in order to overcome the pandemic.
Also read the op-ed that Vivek wrote for Globe & Mail last week: How long will this go on?