Health Disparities; Navigating Unemployment; How Connecticut Will Reopen Next Week; Expanding 'Bubbles' Safely

The Brian Lehrer Show | May 12, 2020

On today's show:

  • Mary Bassett, professor and director of the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University and former NYC health commissioner, talks about the longstanding health and socio-economic disparities that have made minorities more vulnerable to COVID-19;
  • With more than 20 million Americans out of work since April and as the national unemployment rate climbed to 15%, Richard Blum, member of The Legal Aid Society’s Employment Law Unit, takes questions from listeners who are having trouble navigating the overburdened unemployment system, and gives advice;
  • Susan Haigh, AP political writer/statehouse reporter in Hartford, CT, talks about which businesses can reopen and under what conditions under Phase One of Connecticut's plans to reopen;
  • As the coronavirus pandemic drags on, people are slowly expanding their "bubbles" of people they see. Julia Marcus, infectious disease epidemiologist and assistant professor in the department of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, talks about what's safe to do, and how people can begin to inch toward some social interactions.

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