Coronavirus outbreak: What we know and what we don’t know
Cases of the new coronavirus that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan have expanded into the thousands, with more than 130 deaths. The virus’ spread elsewhere — including the U.S., which has at least six confirmed cases — has public health officials around the world on high alert. The Gazette spoke to Professor of Epidemiology Marc Lipsitch, director of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics and an expert on the spread of infectious diseases, including his work during the SARS coronavirus outbreak in 2003. Q&A Marc Lipsitch GAZETTE: The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has identified a handful of coronavirus cases in four U.S. states and is investigating others. How worried should residents be? LIPSITCH: At this point, worry won’t accomplish anything and doesn’t help. It is reasonably likely that there will be more cases in the United States, but whether that means double digits...