Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips on going back to school

Providence's chief clinical officer, Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips, speaks with CNN's Chris Cuomo on students returning to college campuses as COVID-19 cases are rising. The two addressed the importance of rapid testing and how screening students every day could stop the spread of the virus by isolating cases as they come rather then after.

Dr. Compton-Phillips says that's the whole point of testing, "its about stopping the virus in its tracks...we need to do the same kind of work to get testing available broadly as we did with getting PPE available."

As Cuomo highlights the popularity of the hybrid model of having education be half virtual and half in-person, he expresses his concerns about over exposure and bringing the virus home. The two discuss how schools are approaching re-opening and Dr. Compton-Phillips notes that communities are desperate to find solutions despite the fact that there are no right decision. 

The lack of infrastructure and lack of data is preventing the country from learning from their mistakes and moving forward with well informed decisions. Cuomo questions whether or not schools would be able to stay open after moving forward with the new year. 

"I think that we can open schools if we actually do what you're talking about and really rethink our strategy. We need to make sure that everybody that is able to, wears a mask. Full-stop. No exceptions. Everybody that can, wear a mask. We need to make sure we have rigid social distancing protocols and we need to make sure that we can actually ramp up testing to a point," said Dr. Compton-Phillips.

She also expresses that as we entire the fall season, the flu combined with the coronavirus is a serious concern. Because we are still learning all the ramifications of COVID-19, the ability and capacity to handle the virus combined with the flu is something we do not want to experience.

Closing the discussion, Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips urges the public to get their flu shots to gear up for the upcoming fall season.