Amesh Adalja, M.D.: Comparing COVID-19 to past pandemics, preparing for the future, and reasons for optimism

I'm someone who doesn't necessarily think that masks are going to be very beneficial, and they could be paradoxically negative. People who wear a mask may refrain from washing their hands as much; they may not social distance as much; they may contaminate other people with their masks if they don't store it properly or wash it. I have a lot of concerns about masks.

There are four other coronaviruses that circulate every year and cause about 25% of our colds. This [SARS-CoV-2] is something that I suspect will be the fifth one that does that.

I'm worried about our pandemic resiliency based on how badly we've handled a 1% case fatality rate pandemic virus [SARS-Cov-2]. We've got cascading decisions by governors, states, and countries all around the world that have magnified the damage this virus has done.

Mass gatherings are going to be difficult to have for some time until we have a vaccine, because I think a mass gathering can put a town over the edge if it results in multiple episodes of transmission.