Inside the Pandemic's First Days

After a summer of outdoor dining, hiking, and staying indoors, New York City is on alert… again. Localized COVID spikes across the city have prompted lockdowns of schools and businesses, but the pandemic is back on all our minds, following the diagnosis and hospitalization of President Trump and many of the people around him. Dr. Oxiris Barbot M.D., the former commissioner of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, joins us to discuss leadership in a pandemic, the state of American public health today and the hard choices we’ve made to live another day. And reporter Jenny Casas brings us a short meditation on risk in the time of Covid-19. For information on free COVID testing in New York City, visit nyc.gov/COVIDtest. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at [email protected]. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.