Dr. Natalia Linos Releases Comprehensive COVID-19 Response Plan

Last week, 4th Congressional District candidate Dr. Natalia Linos launched a 25-page COVID-19 Response & Recovery Plan, which outlines a step-by-step plan for reopening, recovering, and rebuilding. The plan provides extensive guidelines on what must be done to keep communities, particularly those most impacted by COVID-19, safe and healthy, while also reigniting the economy in an equitable and strategic way. According the Linos’ campaign, this plan is the most detailed among those proposed by any candidate running in the Massachusetts 4th District Democratic primary to date.

“My plan presents important building blocks to protect the most vulnerable, reopen safely with equity as a guiding principle, recover from the shock to our economy, and rebuild our society in line with our values,” Linos said.

Linos stressed the need for a plan that supports both the economy and the health of residents, by opening schools and child care centers first so that parents can get back to work.

“There is a false dichotomy in Washington that you can either save lives or save the economy and I don’t think that’s true,” said Linos. “There are going to be tradeoffs, but there are certain parts of our society we need to reopen safely first. Otherwise we risk losing decades of progress in terms of gender and education inequities.”

Linos unveiled her plan on Wednesday, July 1 during a virtual town hall hosted by Dr. Regina LaRocque, an infectious disease doctor, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, former Wellesley natural resources commissioner, and Wellesley Town meeting member.

LaRocque praised Linos’ plan as distinct not only in its detail, but also in its focus on equity and social and environmental justice.

When asked about why equity is so critical in our response to the current health crisis, Linos responded, “As a social epidemiologist, we know that diseases track along inequities. If there isn’t an equity approach, we will see worse outcomes for all of us.”

Linos responded to questions about linking her recovery plan to the Green New Deal, by discussing her work at the United Nations on health and climate change and her experiences as Science Advisor to the New York City Health Commissioner.

“This is an opportunity to rebuild our society in line with our values. We will have to invest federal dollars in jobs and infrastructure. Let’s invest them in green jobs and public transportation.”

While Massachusetts has made progress in containing the virus, cases have risen across the country, with states like Texas, Florida and Arizona experiencing record-high case counts. Just last week at a U.S. Senate hearing, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned that the United States could soon reach 100,000 cases per day if the virus is not contained.

LaRocque expressed concerns that the spread of the virus in other parts of the country could have negative consequences for Massachusetts and stressed the need for action from the federal government.

“What I find hopeful is that a candidate like you has stepped forward to become somebody who would be willing to represent us at the federal level, and we need that,” LaRocque said to Linos. “We need the voices of science and public health at the table on the federal level.”