The United States has now surpassed 1 million known cases of COVID-19 and the economy is in freefall. The American people are experiencing the worst infectious disease pandemic in a century, yet some states are reopening. How can public health lead as we look to restart the economy safely?
Watch Dr. Tom Frieden, President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, discuss the strategies governments must prioritize to “box in” COVID-19, lessons from other countries, and what we can expect as a “new normal”, with Alison Kodjak, U.S. Investigations Editor at the Associated Press. This conversation took place on April 30, 2020, as part of the Aspen Ideas: Health 20/20 digital series.
About the Speakers:
Dr. Tom Frieden
President and CEO, Resolve to Save Lives
Dr. Frieden is an American infectious disease and public health physician. He is also president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, a five-year initiative housed at nonprofit global health organization Vital Strategies. A physician trained in internal medicine, infectious diseases, public health, and epidemiology, he was director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2009 to 2017, leading the CDC response that helped end the 2014 West Africa Ebola epidemic, among other accomplishments. As New York City health commissioner from 2002 to 2009, Frieden directed efforts to reduce teen and adult smoking and increase life expectancy. He previously led New York City’s program that cut multi-drug resistant tuberculosis by 80 percent, then helped build one in India.
Alison Kodjak
U.S. Investigations Editor, Associated Press
Alison Kodjak is U.S. investigations editor with the Associated Press where she manages a team of investigative reporters and works with colleagues across the AP to do deep reporting that exposes wrongdoing and injustice and holds powerful organizations to account. She was previously health policy correspondent at NPR and before that managing editor at the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative newsroom. Earlier, Kodjak spent a decade with Bloomberg News, covering the auto industry, economics, and finance. As part of Bloomberg’s investigative team, she wrote about the financial crisis, General Motors’ bankruptcy, and the BP oil spill. Kodjak is the co-author of In Too Deep: BP and the Drilling Race That Took It Down. Her work has been recognized with three George Polk Awards, among other honors.
