At mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. Mutual of america financial group, Retirement Services and investments. Consumer cellular offers no desied to help you do more ofare the things you enjoy, whether youre a talker, texter, abrowser, photographer it of everything. Our u. S. Based Customer Service team is here to find a plan that fits you. To learn more, go to www. Consumercellular. Tv. Additional support has been provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation fundme by the can people. And by contributions to your pbs station fr viewers like you. Thank you. Sreenivasan ood evening and we are bringing you our broadcast tonight frote locations across the country for many of us are in new york city there are a lot of devopments in the coronavirus pandemic. Lets get started with todays top news the oorther fer there are than 312,000 confirmed cases of covid19 in the u. S. , more than 8,500 people haveie. Dr. Anthony fauci of the International Institute of health this morning. I would not say we have it under control. That would be a false statement. We are struggling to get it der control and thats the issue that is at hand right nows yterday, president t ump washed trse is yet to come. This will probably be the toughest week between this week and nex wee, and there will be a lot of death, unfortunately, but a lot less death, than if this wasnt done, but there will be death. Sreenivasan but the president also repeas desire for people to return tooo work s at least a quarter of the economy has quote gone id until the wae of the pandemic according to an analysis conduct gordwall street journal. In new y ok, the numbf deaths rose again today, Governor Andrew Cuomo said the good news is the numbof deaths overall and new coronavirus admissions to hospitals is dropping. But he cautionedthe medical system is still over capacity. We are dealing with this curve today and this intensity and thenal nati we shift of the resources to the next place that is imsacted, right . Just what we are doing in new york city, new york sta on a microcosm, we shift resources from the bronx to brolyn to queens to nassau, shift National Resources and state resosur from new york to florida, to illinois, whatever is nt on the curve. Sreenivasan former vice Democratic Convention already postponed to august may have to be a virtual convention. We may not be able to putin, 20, 30,000 people in one place, and thats very possible. I t think you just havefollow the science. Listen to the experts, listen to the faucis of the world. Sreenivasan around the world as of this afternoon there ,re more than 1. 2 million confirmed casefficials in britain reported 621 deaths from corovirus today and nearly 48,000 people in the uk are infected, including Prime MinisterBoris Johnson andhe heir to the throne, prince charles. Nine threeyearold Queene Elizabeth ackdged the pain that many e going through and said, quote, those that comeil after us say that the britains of this generation were as strong as any. Sreenivasan and inan empty st. Peters basilica pope ancis celebrated palm sundayng and the beginf holy week, the ceremony would usually have been held outdoors withtens of thousands of pilgrims carrying olive branches. Thea tragedy we are experiencing in these days summons us to take seriously the things that are serious and not to bcaught up in those that matter less, to rediscover that life is of no use if not used to serve others. For all of our coverage of the c hr all of our coverage of coronavirus outbreak in the u. S. D around the globe, visit pbs. Org newshour. Sreenivasan Global Threats like coronavirus and Climate Change bring their fair share of skeptics and deniers. Harvard University Science historian and professor naomi oreskes, studies how undermining public trust in science can lead to poor decision making. Sh s the author of several books including why trust science . And i recently spoke with her from her home in boston, massachusetts. Naomi, were at a time wn science seems so crucial ing understandd dealing with ais pandemic, but at the same time, we also haenormous amount of skepticism towards the institution of science, towards the institution of pre government. Has is happened before, and how do we deal with it . For a historian like me who studies science and studies publicnderstanding of science and also trust and distrust in science, the Current Situation is unique in our lifetimes and tragically so, because as we know, back in january, therelr weredy medical and public ayalth experts saying that this virus would not n china, that it would come to the united states, and that an early response would be essential to controlling it. That advice was essentially ignored. The result is a rather late and scrambled response. And now we are seeing a very dire situation in which thousands, possibly tens or even hundreds of thousands of American People will die. Deaths that could have been prevented d we listened back in january to what the scientific and medical experts were telling us. Sreenivasan some of that also seems to be rooted in our own, maybe, psychology of not ing to accept bad news. Ne i think its true that in l, humans are reluctant to accept bad news. No one likes bad news. But, of cothats why we have leadership. Hrt of the reason we need leadership is p compensate for the gaps in our own n understandings, the gapse way we behave. And in this case, we had leadershipm the medical community, from the Public Health community. But we didnt have the political leadersthhi was necessary to accept and implement the advice teahat the publich community was offering us. Sreenivasan what about the growth of the skeptical community, of vaccines, of interventions . Opthere are still even today who automatically say, you know what, this is nothing more tn a bad case of u. Well, if theres any Silver Lining in this situation, i think one potential Silver Lining is that people will now recognize the essential role of and safety. Lth we live in a world where many of us no longer remember what it was like when polio was a terrible threat. Many of us grew up with vaccinations for meaes, mumps, rubella, chicken pox. So, childhood diseases are something that we dont really have a personal memory of. Andhen under that sort of situation, its very easy to become cothlacent. And k we have good evidence that the American People have become very compla and so this is a wake up call. This is a reminder that infecretious diseasestill with us. As nd the strongest thi have to fight them are preparedness, which has been woefully lacking in this case, and vaccinations which, the problem with vaccinations is, if you wait until people are sick,t is too late. It takes time to develop a vaccination and it takes time to tet. St typically, at least a year, sometimes longer. And so this is also why preparedness is so important. Sreenivas have there been instances in the past where policymakers have been convinced do things differently as collective . Because, for example, preparedness, we are in st of a justintime perfect deficiency economy and society where we dont necessarily value that excess capacity. Correct. So what were seeing here is that the justintime mentality, which might work perfectly well for inventory in a facr for automobile parts, simply does n work when youre lblooking at a Health Threat or an environmental threat. The good news is that we do actually have positive examples from a past that we can draw on to think about how we cado Different Things differently going forward. The example i know best and have worked on in my own research is the history of the ozone hole. In he case of ozone, scientists back in the 1970s recognized that certain chemicals that were in refrigerants and hairspray coyould destratospheric ozone. That ozone is essential for protecting life on earth from deadly ultraviolet radiation. But the huge difference then compared to now was Political Leadership. Our Political Leadership at that time was willing to accept the scientific evince, did not dis sdain experts as egghe worse. Seriously. Ken and the result was an international treaty. It wasimplemented. Its worked. And we are alive here to tell the tale becauswe listen to scientific information. Political leadership and the importance of scientific expertise. Re ivasan naomi oreskes, thanks so much for joining. Thank you. Its a pleasure to be with you. And stay safe. Sreenivasan for those amerans living in Rural Communities and even small towns, a visit to the doctor can turn into a full days trip. To lessen that burden in recent years, some physicians ban to see their patients online. The practice is known as teleheth, and in the age of the coronavirus pandemic, it has suddenly become more importantth ever. Newshour weekends mori rothman has our story; its part of our ongoing series csing the dream poverty and opportunity in america. Reporter missiippi has a lot of small towns, and lena might be the smallest with a popution of less than 200. But thats the perfect size for 73ldyearster denson. Its a big difference i guess. But i love the country. I just love being out here. Reporter like many rural areas, lena h nital. Thats the only drawback of living in the country youre not a heart attack or something you might die. Reporter denson has type two when she needs to visit the doctor, is an hours trip each way. She used to have to make that any more. Otthree mo these are the strips i use right here. Reporter now she uses a to check her blood sugar three times a day. Shes part of a trial run by the university of mississii Medical Center. Testing. Oo h, im uightly. Im usually 114 one something but im up to 137. Reporter densons nurse, cindy broome, keeps track of densons blood glucose from her office 40 miles away, and checks in with her if she spots a problem. Her numbers come to e able to review it on our dashboard. But were rely looking for a pattern, is she coming down, is she going up, is it uand down, up and yesterdays blood sugar, 104. Reporter because of the trial, denson sees the doctor half as often she did before. It part of a larger effort to increase care for rural patients in mississippi where access to healthcare is a major problem. Mississippi is a state that has a lot of healthcare issues. Were ranked at the, at top of all the bad list, at the bottom of most of the good lists. Reporter michaeldcock led whats known as telehealth at the university of Mississippi Medical Center in jackson for the past four years. We have a very high incidence of chronic disease burden, and we have the lowest or the next f to lowest numberoviders per capita in the united states. So we dont have enough providers, and we have a very sick population in most cases. So its its bleak picture a lot of ways, but thats also what helped push us into tesolehealth. This is our electrosoc i. C. U. Ere monitoring patients in the intensive care setti. Reporter the Medical Center began offeng telehealth rvices to faraway patients in 2003 because in mississippi a good number of patients are far away. When i think of, if im sick or if i have an emergency, i live in new york, i can go to right. St hospital. Reporter how is that different here in mississippi ft or folks if theyre ght in jackson . Sure. So, mississippi has one level i trauma center. Ts in jackson. We have one childrens hospital. Its in jackson. We have one school of medicine. Its in jackson. So,th all oe things are located in jackson. There are some great Medical Centers, but theyre all in the populated areas. And, you know, a very large percentage of the population ves outside those populated eas. So it it creates a barrier to care when you, you know, when your when you have poverty and you have virality, it makes it sometimes difficult to be able to get to the providers office, much less go to the hospital if it 1may or 2. 5 hours away. It might as well be in another stat ce or anothntry. Many of our patients dont even have their own transportation, so they may have to rr ely on a neigh a cousin or friend to bring them to their appointments. Reporter Shannon Fryery is the director of telehealth at northississippi medical cente in tupelo, mississippi. Its the largest rural hoss. Tal in the fryery also works as a nursepractitioner. She says telemedicine has made itar easier for her to cfor her patients. Well hey miss betty how are you doing today . Just fine, thank you. Reporter her patient betty lloway uses telehealth t receive care for a bone infection. Fryery can remotely discuss abmedication, viework, and using a stethoscope and camera connected to the internet, nly listen to holloways heartbeat but also inspect any you still got a little scab there dont you . You dont think about it, but when youre in pain, its not easy for you to sit or stand, of your housed ou to a car, to get in and out, reporter specialists Like Mental Health practitioners are a rarity in remote areas. We are one of the lowest ranked states in services available. There is about, depending on what year you look at, its about 46 psychiatrists per 100,000 people. That in contrast which with, for example, washington, d. C. , ich has about 24. So were at the at the at the very over the time that we have been talking and knowing each other, how do you think reporter doctor Demetrio Prota is based in tupelo, but can reach his patients wherever they are through telepsychiatry. Prota usays patients shto more appointments when given the option of telepsychiatry. In a conversation this week, Shannon Fryery said because of the covid19 pandemic, telehealth has been tdust into the ical spotlight. K we do need to be utious at times, but i this virus is really throwing telehealth in the forefront and has really helped some providers who had some concerns about, is this wareally a gooto patient care . They certainly see the value. Reporter mississippi doctors arent alone in adjusting to the covid19 pandemic. Before tdemic there were few states that allowed patients to see a doctor from their home via telehealth, but now, most have waived those restrictions. To fryery. Sens and now that were trying to limit patients, especially those lnerable patients, so nonessential visits, we dont wt those patients to come into our clinic and risk exposure not necessarily in our office but just getting out and about, getting in town, stopping to get gas, doing other things that they might be tempted to do. We really, really, really need people to stay at home. And so were now able to do a virtual visit into their homes using some of those platforms that are available. Reporter but telehealth is not a panacea. In mississippi, as with many states with large rural populations, a major obstacle to its expansion is lof highspeed internet access. Shannon fryery says that the connectivity gap is especially glaring n that the pandemic has increased the number of telehealth visits. Not all of our pients have fancydancy iphones or andanids have that connectivity so theres certaly is some restrictions. And thats where broadband and the push to move that forward is just so critical, especially in this rural state like mississippi. Reporter but shpes says shes l that the connectivity challenges can be overcome, and that the surge inm telehealth win long after the Coronavirus Crisis is over. I feel like having this unfortunate, unfortunate outbreak has really opened up the guidelines to be able to help us to deliveretter care, more timely, re effective. My hope and my prayer really is that once this crisis is over, that the guidelines will stay, rela or that we can at least go back and reevaluate kind of where we are, what worked well and leave things open so that we can continue to use and refine this very, very valuable and critical tool to patient care. Sreenivan jugglinboth rk and parenting can be trying under the best of circumstances. Being a parent and suddenly studying at home, too . Your kids well, thats another story. With millions of americans suddenly finding themselves in that position, newshour weekends Zachary Greene sought some advice from writer kimberly harrington, who has worked d parented from home for the past 11 years. Magazines the cut is titled now is the perfect time to lower thparenting bar. Reporter could you just start by telling us a little bit about what it was like for you when you first started working from home . The biggest mistake i made when i started working from home was trying to just replicate office. Ike to work in an it was right at the height of the crash 2009, and at the time my kids were three and five. So when were, you know, were in an office, we have a structure, were with other adults, weinof know how things are going to go. We dont schedule a workday depending on when everyones in a great mood or is likly wellrested or had breakst. Really what i learned was i had to really structure as much as doing around what were going to be the best times of day for them, when they were going to be rested, when they were going to lhavetle bit more energy or a little bit more ability to focus. Reporter so, how do you balance working from home and parenting from home, eecially nt ow when i dont know we situation is with your kids, but i know my kid is now home every y. Is there balance . Is a grt question. I dont, i dont think balance isbl pos i dont think most parents would think balance was possible even before this happened. Sort of the Gold Standard of stories in o family is when i hamy kids at home. And i was in a massive Conference Call for a super wl commercial presentation. So, really, professionally, one of the most important calls ive probably ever been on as a as a writer and a creative director. And my kids at that point really knowew the rule that, you you dont interrupt me unless