In a Voice of America town hall, Dean Boris Lushniak joined a panel of three other experts from around the globe to answer questions about the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lushniak, as well as Dr. Priteema Chanana from India, Professor Meerjady Sabrina Flora from Bangladesh and Dr. Chang-Chuan Chan from Taiwan listened to questions come in from viewers all around the world.
“We keep learning more about this virus, its transmissibility and what are, in fact, the protective measures that need to be taken,” Lushniak said in a response to a question about the initial discouragement of face masks by U.S. officials.
“Face masks have not been part of the culture within the United States as a form of infection control within our population,” Lushniak said. “And I think in retrospect, we would have done this much earlier if we had known about the transmissibility and the infectiousness of this.”
Lushniak answered questions about clinical trials, where coronaviruses come from and different approaches to containing the virus, among others.
“We’ve never had this intermeshing of the advancement of science in conjunction with a brand new pandemic,” Lushniak told viewers. “And so I remain optimistic that something is going to be found out there.”
Watch the full town hall below: