Dr. Dobbs considers COVID-19 “more insidious” than past pandemics

As the state tries to enter into a reopening phase, Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs joined The Gallo Show on Tuesday morning to provide an update on the coronavirus breakout.

Dobbs compared the COVID-19 pandemic to past pandemics such as the 1918 flu pandemic, saying that the novel coronavirus is “more insidious.”

“Although there are a lot of similarities with pandemic influenza, there are a lot of differences, especially the fact that no one has any underlying immunity, which makes it that much more challenging,” Dobbs said.

The 1918 flu pandemic affected over a third of the globe. The 500 million confirmed cases of H1N1 resulted in 50 million deaths. Thus far, there has been a reported 3.1 million cases of COVID-19, as well as 213,000 deaths.

“It’s going to be with us for a while, which is another thing that is hard to accommodate to,” Dobbs said. “This thing is far from being over.”

With the true peak of the virus still unknown, Dobbs shed light on the experimental efforts going on within Jackson hospitals. According to him, doctors at UMMC have been “carefully” working with hydroxychloroquine, plasma therapy, and remdesivir.

To listen to the full interview with Dr. Dobbs, check out the video below.

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