Robert Heimer (top) and Gregg Gonsalves (bottom) Wednesday on WNHH’s “Dateline New Haven.”
In a pandemic, we can save lives by seeking to reduce harm as much as possible.
And we have to take action. We can’t rely on our government.
Gregg Gonsalves and Robert Heimer learned those lessons a generation ago while at the front lines of battling the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
They, and we, are relearning those lessons today in battling the spread of Covid-19.
So the two Yale School of Public Health epidemiologists said during a joint appearance Wednesday on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
“We’re two for two in the botched department” in terms of our government’s handling of the two public-health crises, Gonsalves said.
“Don’t count on your government to save you,” he said. “It’s really up to us” to take action by following guidance to keep a six-foot distance from others, wear masks in public, and wash our hands thoroughly.
And when we make decisions about, say, when and how to reopen universities and public schools, we need dramatically more testing and contact tracing “so we’re not flying blind.”
Gonsalves said one of the government’s failures has been to protect inmates in Connecticut’s prisons, which he likened to “a cruise ship with bars.” He and Heimer joined other Yale doctors and researchers in signing a letter calling on Gov. Ned Lamont to release many more prisoners, especially with little time left on their sentences or behind bars for committing nonviolent drug crimes. Keeping someone in prison, given the state’s failure to protect inmates and guards alike, is “akin to a death sentence,” Gonsalves said, noting the decision by even red states like North Dakota to acknowledge failures and release more prisoners and acknowledge failures. “Connecticut has been very resistant to even having a conversation about this…. The governor’s turned a blind eye to this for some bizarre reason. I don’t understand what’s wrong with Ned Lamont.”
Heimer’s HIV/AIDS research lab has pivoted to studying Covid-19’s spread since the pandemic began. He said researchers have concluded that Metro-North was one of the major spreaders of the virus early on, bringing it from New York City to Connecticut.
Heimer pioneered research that convinced officials nationwide to adopt a free needle-exchange program for drug users in the 1990s. The idea was that “harm reduction” would best save lives in situations without ideal alternatives. He sees a similar approach needed today with Covid-19 as officials and citizens balance the needs to keep some activities closed and limit interactions in order to temper the coronavirus’s spread.
He and Gonsalves cautioned that a rushed reopening of the economy and public interactions will cause deeper long-term damage to public health and the economy by re-ramping up Covid’s spread.
“The rebound’s going to be substantial,” Heimer predicted. “The question is: Will it be catastrophic? Or [just] disproportionately large?”
Gonsalves responded to a question about whether a broader reopening can promote a helpful “herd immunity.” He noted that it’s not clear whether contracting Covid-19 offers years, or months, of protection from getting it again. In any case, that philosophy is “built on an an assumption that thousands of lives are expendable,” which is “untenable for a civilized society,” he argued.
Click on the video to watch the full episode of WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” with Gregg Gonsalves and Robert Heimer.