Are lockdowns helpful or harmful? After months of some of the strictest lockdown policies, Chicago’s mayor and New York’s governor are shifting their message to say we must open up. Mixed messaging from the media, government, and public health officials has confused people on whether or not lockdowns are actually helpful.
NTD spoke to Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor at Stanford University Medical School, a physician, health economist, and public health policy expert focusing on infectious diseases and vulnerable populations.
Calling lockdowns a “failure of imagination” in public health policy, Professor Bhattacharya says we must begin to reopen our economy in a safe way. Bhattacharya says moving forward, public policies must protect the vulnerable, open schools, and start to lift the lockdowns safely.
