Dr. Jeffrey Klausner on Public Safety and International Travel

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Today we’re sitting down with medical expert Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, who’s previously been a professor at UCLA and is currently a clinical professor of Medicine at USC.  

 

Our guest for this CityHealth interview is Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, who’s been a professor at UCLA and is currently a clinical professor of Medicine at USC.  

Dr. Jeffrey Klausner is an expert in infectious disease prevention and control. He is a frequent advisor to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization (WHO). 

 

We’re discussing public re-openings and international travel today. We’re getting Dr. Klausner’s take on working from home, restaurant, business and store re-openings, production studios and on-site filming, and more. 

He’ll be answering some of our questions about the best safety measures businesses can take when operating and welcoming people back in, as well as common myths and misconceptions.

We’ll also discuss the implications of international travel and what his recommendations are.

 

Here are some of the questions covered in the video:

  • What is your personal take on international travel? What are some of the trade-offs and global implications for widescale international travel during the time of the pandemic?
  • What public safety methods are effective for containing and managing the pandemic?
  • As businesses, restaurants, and public venues are reopening, what public safety methods are the most effective for containing and managing the pandemic? 
  • With the impacts and data of new COVID strains like the Delta Variant, what is your perspective on herd immunity now? What do we need to achieve herd immunity?
  • Could you rank some of the best public initiatives to improve access to vaccines- what’s most effective?
  • What do you think about remote working and work from home solutions? Do you think these will be here to stay? 
  • LA is home to Hollywood, Universal Pictures Studio Netflix, NBC, other big sets. Television and film production is resuming and surging past pre-pandemic levels. What are your general thoughts on this?

https://youtu.be/jMoRcuMlwGk

Key Takeaways on our Conversation about International Travel and Public Re-openings with Dr. Klausner:

He’s a big fan of international travel. The pleasures and learnings and experiences that come from traveling and seeing more of the world and different cultures are highly valuable.

Travel during the COVID-19 pandemic can be quite complicated however. (P.S., we’ve written a comprehensive feature on the pros and cons of international travel during COVID-19, as well as a piece on overcoming travel anxiety during the pandemic.) There are countries that are closed, where travel is not an option. That can change, but people need to be aware of what’s open and what’s closed.

There are still many countries around the world where vaccination is not available, so there will be countries open with high rates of infection. If you have a prior infection, however, more than 14 studies now show that prior infection is essentially as effective as vaccination. 

It’d be unadvised for individuals who are not vaccinated to travel to certain places. 

To lessen your risk when traveling, avoid crowded indoor settings, spend more time outdoors, and make sure you’re either vaccinated or protected because of prior infection. 

In the workplace, we need to do a much better job of checking people’s vaccination status, monitoring vaccinations, and giving employees time to get vaccinations. Mask use should technically be focused on people who are unvaccinated or cannot be vaccinated.

The best safety methods for offices would be creating adequate ventilation and air exchange in buildings where people are working. It’s not just about circulating air, but about bringing in fresh air (at least fresh air six exchanges per hour.)

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