Stephen Parodi, MD, discusses disparate COVID-19 interventions across the U.S. with Wall Street Journal

Stephen Parodi, MD, executive vice president of The Permanente Federation and national infectious disease leader at Kaiser Permanente, commented in a recent Wall Street Journal story about the disparate approaches to COVID-19 interventions — such as business closures and mask-wearing — adopted by municipalities across the United States.

“We have been doing a natural-history experiment in the United States, where we are lifting a bunch of the nonpharmaceutical interventions” such as shelter-in-place orders, said Dr. Parodi, who also serves as chairman of the Council of Accountable Physician Practices. “And some of the lifting has been more phased, and some has been less phased.”

Dr. Parodi’s comments were included in a story on the recent acceleration in COVID-19 cases across the country, which is reaching new daily highs in states such as Texas and Arizona. The rising case count is spurring concerns about the prospects for resuming economic and social activities. Citing the expertise of public health officials, the Journal article reports that the coronavirus will continue to infect populations across the nation in rolling, uneven waves as municipalities adopt a variety of methods to curtail its spread.

Note: To read the full story, visit The Wall Street Journal site (subscription required).