I really enjoyed this week’s lecture because I got to meet the people helping to make decisions at Emory during COVID. I thought they did a really good job with their recommendations, and I personally had a great experience going to Emory during COVID, despite the unprecedented situation we were in. Although not all recommendations were adopted at the law school, such as 60-minute exams and not having proctored exams, a lot of the recommendations were adopted. Really helpful recommendations for zoom school were having each class recorded and making in person class optional if a person needed to stay home.

The student survey that Dr. Weeks spoke about also really stood out to me. People were worried that being schooled via Zoom at home would not be ideal. They were worried about having a quiet, internet-connected place to go to class and study. They were also worried that making friends and finding study groups would be much harder.

These worries were extremely relatable to me. I remember going through this situation myself, and ultimately choosing to go to law school even though the classes would mostly be on Zoom. My experience was different from my undergrad experience, and I struggled with many of these issues. I was fortunate to have a lot of other students living in my building, and so I was able to find one or two other students to study with. Overall, I am grateful we had professionals such as the ones that came in to make these decisions.

Last week Dr. Thrasher came into class and discussed his new book, “The Viral Underclass.” I thought Dr. Thrasher raised many interesting perspectives that I had not previously considered. For example, though I learned about the Atlantic Slave Trade during my previous schooling, I never thought of it from a public health perspective. The Atlantic Slave Trade did contribute heavily to the spread of diseases in an unprecedented way, all in the name of profit.

There were other points, like speciesism, which I had never heard of before. I can’t say I fully agree with his logic. In my eyes, human beings are and will always be superior to all other lifeforms on this Earth and deserve priority over those other living beings. However, his point was valid to the extent that we can redefine our relationship with animals to make the world safer and healthier.

Dr. Dube’s presentation about her experience with religious leaders in Africa when dealing with the HIV pandemic was very impactful. I was impressed with her ability to work with these religious leaders and come to an understanding and build trust in the community. Once Dr. Dube built this trust, she made meaningful changes in the community. She helped save lives by changing the narrative and educating people about HIV and the best way to deal with it.

I could not help but see the parallels between the COVID pandemic and religious leaders in our country. During the pandemic, I remember a heated debate regarding lockdowns and people’s right to go to their religious institutions for worship. Certain communities were having weddings and religious gatherings despite COVID protocols. This raised supreme court questions, which often ruled in favor of religious protections.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/18/nyregion/nyc-covid-hasidic-wedding.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/12/15/churches-take-covid-19-supreme-court-sides-religious-freedom/3813310001/

Our country would have greatly benefited if we had someone like Dr. Dube reaching out to these communities and having serious conversations about COVID-19 and safety. Often, these communities were chastised and looked down upon, which did not help build trust, but rather mistrust. Instead of chastising communities, open and honest communication is the answer, preferably from someone who is a part of their community. We need leaders who unite our citizens, like Dr. Dube, not divide them further. If not, communities will not trust the public health authorities as they should. This mistrust will lead to more unnecessary deaths during public health emergencies.

This week, Susan Channa discussed the importance of proper communication between public policy experts and the United States population and several ways one can be an effective communicator. One issue that stood out to me was how much our country’s government and experts struggled to communicate effectively with the US public.

Susan Channa gave clear pointers on how to communicate effectively. Advice such as: Be quotable, deliver key messages, deliver shorter answers, correct misstatements and raise questions yourself. Also, be concise, clear, and compelling and focus on three key messages. This advice made much sense. However, our country and its institutions often failed to follow this advice. Whether it was the CDC, which often released long form and confusing tweets, or President Trump/Biden, whom both have made contradictory statements from public health experts, our country and its institutions have a big problem regarding effective communication.

As we move to a more digital age and an age where public health issues are becoming more and more politicized, what is the best way to move forward so that Americans can receive effective communication? Perhaps the CDC needs more funding to hire better social media experts/training. Maybe public health experts can be given a status and protections that allow them to be more independent, like certain judicial positions in our country.