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Viruses, those microscopic infectious agents that dwell among us every-single-day, but century after century a particular new virus appears, massively claiming the lives of those who have been infected. The bubonic plague, smallpox, the black plague, HIV, and now COVID-19 (Just to name a few) have been shifting the way humans live in society and changing every life in its path.

Today's guest is Dr. Yonette Thomas is a woman of multiple talents and skills, but in this episode, she talked to us from the point of view of a social epidemiologist. This is an interesting conversation about what is going on in the world right now with COVID-19 and why she thinks we should be more aware of the damage this can cause us sociologically. The positive side of the pandemic, the evolution of COVID-19 during this year, and why she thinks the misinformation is delaying us to have the opportunity to end this virus once and for all; those are some of the subjects for today's episode. Please dive in.

About Yonette

Dr. Thomas is a globally acknowledged thought leader, urban health champion, and an advocate for valuing the health of women and girls as an economic imperative. She founded Borjoner International and Strategic Transitions to influence the progress, health, and wellbeing of individuals and communities across the world. As a founding board member of Women’s Economic Imperative (WEI), she leads the organization’s focus on the health of women and girls as an economic value. Her work as a global advisor for Evidence for Sustainable Human Development Systems in Africa (EVIHDAF) and the Centre for Urban Health and Development within the Asian Institute of Poverty Alleviation (CUHD-AIPA) extends her focus on the global south and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals in this last decade. She is the Associate Editor for Women and Girls for Cities & Health.

Connect with Yonette

Website: yonettethomasphd.com

Facebook: facebook.com/YFThomasPhD

Twitter: @yfthomasPhD

Instagram: @yfthomasphd

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/yfthomasphd/

What you'll hear

1:52 Discoveries: What we didn't know back then that we know now about viruses.

12:06 How different countries confronted the virus.

18:00 Are we the Americans selfish?: Yonette talks about human interaction in the pandemic.

22:06 "It's political manipulation": Yonette thoughts about the COVID-19 misinformation.

28:07 As an epidemiologist, what scares Yonette about the COVID-19 virus?

32:03 How Yonette would have handled the pandemic from day one.

33:21 The economic side of the coin: How the virus affects the economy.

34:36 What Yonette thinks is the positive side of the pandemic.

36:42 Yonette talks about the impact of diseases in different communities.

41:22 Yonette talks about the social shifting after the COVID 19 pandemic.

49:56 Yonette's point of view about the duration of COVID-19.

50:34 Yonette's doubts about a possible vaccine.

52:18 Where to find Yonette.