Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett spoke with Boston Public Radio on Monday about the easing of stay at home orders. Public health experts warn that this increased activity is likely to cause a surge in new infections.
"Once you start to reopen, it's a dance, you have to respond organically to what's happening," she said. "As a physician, I'd like to know more about what we're watching and waiting for to see if this doesn't work."
Gergen Barnett said she was pleased with the way Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and secretary of health Marylou Sudders have created their reopening response. "It was probably a little bit slow in the beginning, but they have since really followed the data," she said. "And personally, I would like to hear more about what's going to trigger reclosing, or going from Phase II back to Phase I."
Every state will have a unique response to reopening, Gergen Barnett added. "We are all interconnected, and the border between us and other states is minimal, so what other states are doing to reopen is going to hugely impact how we either benefit or suffer," she said. "Massachusetts residents taking the personal onus of responsibility can't be stressed enough."
Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett is the vice chair of primary care innovation and transformation and the program director of the department of family medicine at Boston Medical Center.
