UCLA faculty share expertise about COVID-19 with Los Angeles city health officials

Two professors from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health  shared their expertise on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) with the Los Angeles City Health Commission on March 9, opening an important dialogue between leading health officials and city leaders.Anne Rimoin, professor of epidemiology, and Gilbert Gee, professor of community health sciences, addressed the commission, which advises and makes recommendations to the Los Angeles City Council.Rimoin outlined the recent history of similar outbreaks, the origin of COVID-19 and what scientists and health experts know about how this new virus manifests and spreads. There is still a long way to go toward understanding COVID-19 completely, she added, but partnering and sharing with entities like the city and county of Los Angeles will go a long way.“It’s really important for everyone to understand we really are in the learning phase,” Rimoin said. She emphasized that “accurate case counts are needed to inform good government decision-making.“The Los Angeles County Department of Health will be managing this,” she said, “but they are going to be managing information from many, many places, and it will be important that cities are being very helpful to the county in order to keep these numbers straight.”Anne Rimoin speaks first and Gilbert Gee begins speaking at 24:14. City officials can help by trying to have an accurate count of both large and small health care systems operating in the city, and to be especia...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news