Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security Director Testifies at First Briefing Hosted by the US House of Representatives Oversight and Reform Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis

May 13, 2020 – Dr. Tom Inglesby, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, shared a statement at a hearing held by the new US House of Representatives Oversight and Reform Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.

At this first hearing of the new select subcommittee, public health experts provided their insights via video conferencing on pertinent issues related to the country’s COVID-19 outbreak.

Dr. Inglesby shared testimony on how the country could mitigate accelerating COVID-19 spread during the country’s transition to reopening. He stated that the country should meet 4 conditions before reopening widely:

• A reduction in COVID-19 cases over 14 days
• Hospital capacity to provide COVID-19 cases standard of care
• Capacity to test anyone with COVID-19-like symptoms
• Capacity to isolate cases, trace their contacts, and guide them into quarantine

Dr. Inglesby cited the impact that effective contact tracing has had in countries that have been able to reduce COVID-19 transmission, sharing the belief that a failure to contact trace will lead to a more difficult, unpredictable domestic response. In addition to the need to increase contact tracing capacity, he stated that widespread diagnostic testing, continued physical distancing and mask usage in public, and avoidance of mass gatherings will need to be maintained as the country progressed toward reopening.

You can watch Dr. Inglesby’s testimony here.