Juliette Kayyem: We're In 'Response Phase' Of Coronavirus Crisis

Virus Outbreak New York — Patients wait in line outside an urgent care pharmacy while wearing personal protective equipment, Wednesday, March 25, 2020, in the Queens borough of New York.

Hannah Uebele is a producer for Under the Radar with Callie Crossley and previously worked as associate producer for Boston Public Radio. She graduated from Tufts University with a B.S. in English and Environmental Studies. She's a proud Delawarean but has found herself saying "wicked" more and more often, so the Bostonian metamorphosis is well underway.Contact: hannah_uebele@wgbh.org

March 25, 2020

Updated August 07, 2023

Homeland security expert Juliette Kayyem spoke with Boston Public Radio on Wednesday about the longevity of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We're at the beginning of the response phase of the crisis," she said. "It's going to get harder before it gets easier."

Self-isolation is the effective path forward, Kayyem said.

"This is going to be a 50 state response, and our obligation is a that for couple weeks, it's going to be like this for us all to social distance," she said. "The good news is that there is complete convergence among the medical, homeland security and economic experts that there's only one path forward, which is that we're isolating ourselves."

Kayyem is an analyst for CNN, former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security and faculty chair of the homeland security program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.