Answers to COVID-19 questions

Important questions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic are still pending answers. Dr. David Samadi answers in an interview with Governor Huckabee some of the most asked questions about the new virus.

Watch the interview and find below the transcription of the second part of the interview:

Why healthy people were quarantined during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Governor Huckabee – I want to get some quick answers to a couple of questions. I heard and epidemiologist saying that this is the first time in a pandemic when we are isolation the healthy people rather than only quarantine the sick people. Is this a fair assessment of what we have done differently in the Chinese virus?

Dr. David Samadi – It is a good assessment made by this doctor. It is always the case that we take care of the sick people, we quarantine them and we let the healthy people out there. The argument against that is that asymptomatic people are able to pass the virus to others.

Many doctors have argued this by saying that if you are asymptomatic, your viral load is so low that you may not be able to pass this. WHO mentioned that in countries such as South Corea or Singapore the chance of asymptomatic people to pass this virus is very rare.

So, if that theory is correct and asymptomatic people are not gonna pass the virus, there is absolutely no need to isolate and quarantine healthy people. I think that if you have no symptoms, the risks of passing this is fairly low, but we have to be very careful.

Do not forget Governor, they always come up with the best scenario and the worst scenario. It is always easier for them to paint the picture of the worst scenario because when it gets better they become the iconic heroes and they are the winners. But the public needs to know the real science and the real data and not just these mixed-up messages.

Should schools reopen?

Governor Huckabee – Dr. Samadi, 2 big issues every American is dealing with. Number 1: Should schools reopen? And number 2: Should people be forced to wear a mask everywhere they go? What is your thought?

Dr. David Samadi – The schools need to open up and part of the reason is that we are seeing the data coming from many European countries. Their data absolutely shows that it is safe enough to open up your schools. The risk of children taking this virus and transmitting it to the elderly is very low. I am not talking about kids visiting nursing homes. Children’s risk of dying because this virus is extremely low, close to zero.

The risks of keeping them at home including the loss of education, child abuse, not getting the nutritious food is way further than the risk of opening up our schools. So, we are all fo opening up our schools. We need to protect our teachers. I have got a lot of emails saying that “Dr. Samadi, you do not care about the teachers”. That is not the case. We love you guys. But you have to understand that if you were an old teacher with diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure you should stay home and you should do this distant teaching. But, a lot of the teachers from K1 to K12 are much younger.

By rearranging our schools, by new guidelines, by making sure there is social distancing, wearing masks, protecting our teachers and students, etc, our schools can be opened up. I will absolutely feel safe to send my children to school.

Should we wear masks to prevent COVID-19 infections?  

Governor Huckabee – Masks, should we wear them? Are they a good thing for us?

Dr. David Samadi – I do not want these masks to become our new norm. If you look at a lot of people on one side of the aisle, they think that their liberty is taken away, that their civil rights are taken away. On the other hand, there are a lot of studies saying that if the entire country wears a mask, the number of infections and deaths will be reduced. Somehow we have to compromise. I think that if it a short period, the Americans have responded. As of New York, many of them went to lockdown and responded and the rest of the country did the same. So, I do not want this wearing mask to become our way of life, our fashion, and the new norm. America is not China. We are not used to wearing a mask. There is also an art of wearing a mask, which is very difficult. You see, even Dr. Faucci at the Stadium wears his mask around his neck. It is just difficult to wear it for hours and hours and hours. 

I think we need to respect each other. We need to wear them for the time being. If it helps other people, if it reduces the death rates and infection rates, I think that for the small transition point, we should follow the law and wear the masks to get rid of this virus and move on. 

There are a lot of lessons that we have learned. We need to become independent of China. We should never allow that 90% of our antibiotics to be made in foreign countries. We need to become independent are that is one of the biggest lesson learned from this pandemic. 

Governor Huckabee – I will continue to wear the mask. Dr. Samadi, thank you for joining us! What a pleasure to have you with us!