Welcome to Episode 41 of “COVID: What comes next,” an exclusive weekly Providence Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK podcast featuring Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and an internationally respected expert on pandemic response and preparedness

PROVIDENCE – The numbers indicate that the latest COVID surge has peaked, according to pandemic expert Dr. Ashish Jha, and while the next couple of weeks “are the critical time,” the nation as a whole can expect a better February than this January, when the Delta and omicron variants have combined …

Welcome to Episode 40 of “COVID: What comes next,” an exclusive weekly Providence Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK podcast featuring Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and an internationally respected expert on pandemic response and preparedness

PROVIDENCE – As difficult as COVID-19 has made this December with omicron now the dominant variant, “we are looking toward a month of January when we’re just going to see an extraordinary number of infections across all of the country,” Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public He…

Welcome to Episode 39 of “COVID: What comes next,” an exclusive weekly Providence Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK podcast featuring Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and an internationally respected expert on pandemic response and preparedness

PROVIDENCE – The omicron variant has been detected in more than two dozen countries, including just this week in the U.S.   And this much is certain, says pandemic expert Dr. Ashish Jha: it will continue to spread.  Beyond that, Jha asserts, uncertainties at this early stage abound, just as they …

Welcome to Episode 38 of “COVID: What comes next,” an exclusive weekly Providence Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK podcast featuring Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and an internationally respected expert on pandemic response and preparedness

PROVIDENCE – With the CDC expected this week to grant approval of the Pfizer vaccine for children age 5 to 11, polls show that some parents and guardians are hesitant about their youngsters getting the shots – and some have said they will refuse.  Dr. Ashish Jha’s message to them?  “You can liste…

Welcome to Episode 37 of “COVID: What comes next,” an exclusive weekly Providence Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK podcast featuring Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and an internationally respected expert on pandemic response and preparedness

PROVIDENCE – Do not expect a repeat of the grim fall and winter holidays of last year, when the pandemic raged. Instead, people in many parts of the U.S. can look forward to more traditional celebrations, now that “the delta surge of the summer has clearly turned a corner.”  Such was the assessmen…

Welcome to Episode 36 of “COVID: What comes next,” an exclusive weekly Providence Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK podcast featuring Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and an internationally respected expert on pandemic response and preparedness

PROVIDENCE – The microbe that causes coronavirus disease may never disappear entirely, but there is an “end game” in sight for the pandemic, which means “we're going to get through this and we will get back to a normal that people will value and appreciate and love.”  And that could be as soon as …

Welcome to Episode 35 of “COVID: What comes next,” an exclusive weekly Providence Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK podcast featuring Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and an internationally respected expert on pandemic response and preparedness

PROVIDENCE – As children including his own begin to return to the classroom, pandemic expert Dr. Ashish Jha expresses confidence that they and their teachers and support staff can be safe – provided school districts follow what he outlined Thursday as four requirements.   They are:   ◘ Vaccinat…

Welcome to Episode 34 of “COVID: What comes next,” an exclusive weekly Providence Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK podcast featuring Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and an internationally respected expert on pandemic response and preparedness

PROVIDENCE – “I'm very worried.”  So declared Dr. Ashish Jha this week as the highly contagious Delta variant ravages many parts of the U.S. and some models suggest “as many as 35 million Americans may get infected over the next couple of months, the next few months,” according to the pandemic exp…

Welcome to Episode 33 of “COVID: What comes next,” an exclusive weekly Providence Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK podcast featuring Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and an internationally respected expert on pandemic response and preparedness

PROVIDENCE – With the Delta variant now widespread, the World Health Organization recently repeated longstanding guidance that all people -- vaccinated or not – should wear masks. Some places in the U.S., including sprawling Los Angeles County, have advised mask-wearing for all indoors.   But the …

Welcome to Episode 32 of “COVID: What comes next,” an exclusive weekly Providence Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK podcast featuring Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and an internationally respected expert on pandemic response and preparedness.

PROVIDENCE – The growing dominance of the deadly Delta variant will pose a grave risk this summer to people who are not fully vaccinated, pandemic expert Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, said during the latest recording of the “COVID: What Comes Next” podcast.  “…