How do we safely navigate re-openings while coronavirus risks remain?

Most of the country is relaxing guidelines put in place to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. But many questions arise about how to re-open safely. In this episode, we discuss making everyday life safer with Hilary M. Babcock, MD, a professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and medical director of the Infection Prevention and Epidemiology Consortium for BJC HealthCare. She says masks, physical distancing and good hand hygiene remain important. Another important aspect of opening safely involves testing to identify who has and who has had COVID-19. Antibody testing that might identify who already has been infected and might have some resistance to future infections was long viewed as something of a silver bullet, and as the country re-opens, many clinics now offer antibody testing. But it’s not clear if those tests will make us any safer. Neil W. Anderson, MD, an assistant professor of pathology and immunology in the Division of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine, and Christopher Farnsworth, PhD, an instructor of pathology and immunology, are directing the antibody testing effort in the laboratories at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. They say that the antibody tests may not be accurate enough to help make opening safer.

The podcast, “Show Me the Science,” is produced by the Office of Medical Public Affairs at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.