COVID BYTES

In this compilation of LinkedIn blog posts, a medical doctor offers a real-time analysis of the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dedicated to the diverse Americans who have lost their lives to the novel coronavirus, as well as to tireless “disease detectives” working to mitigate its spread, Hasbrouck’s work serves as a chronicle of the Covid-19 emergency that provides a window into its complexity and the confusion it wrought. Beginning with a post dated Feb. 26, 2020, roughly two weeks after President Donald Trump’s declaration of a public health emergency, Hasbrouck shares a series of messages that tackle real-time issues, including changing Centers for Disease Control recommendations, disease transmission prevention, and vaccine development. The author pays special attention to the impact of the pandemic on minority populations, for whom barriers to medical care and preexisting conditions can worsen medical outcomes. By linking medical miseducation to systemic racism, Hasbrouck offers a crucial reminder that a politicized climate of rumor and pseudoscience can cost vulnerable Americans their lives. Hasbrouck is a CDC–trained epidemiologist, the former director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, and a public speaker and political adviser on medical issues, and he’s undeniably a leader in his field. Here, he succeeds where many public health advocates have failed by demystifying the pandemic in a work intended for readers from a wide variety of backgrounds. Many writers struggle to convey a cogent message in a 1,300-character blog post, but Hasbrouck does so repeatedly and with aplomb and occasional touches of sharp wit. As hospitals continue to take in Covid-19 patients and vaccination hesitancy still grips segments of the population, this work is more relevant than ever. As Hasbrouck notes, misinformation and a lack of preparation are still putting many people at risk.

An informative read on the early days of an ongoing crisis.