Flashpoint 12/13/20: How pandemic could change future of the business community

Watch Flashpoint every Sunday at 10 a.m. on Local 4 News

DETROIT – The vaccines ride in hoping to rescue a weary world from the pandemic. But it’s more than this current crisis. Are we looking at the future of medicine?

And how does the Detroit business world reconfigure to adapt to the adaptations we’ve all made that may not go away just because the virus does.

It has been a mad dash scramble -- and yet it has also been a studied, cool-headed study in solving a problem through science. The vaccines are coming and in just about a year since the appearance of the coronavirus we’ve come to know as COVID-19.

On Sunday, there was a discussion about where we are with Dr. Teena Chopra, a professor of infectious diseases at Wayne State University and also the corporate medical director of Infection Prevention and Hospital Epidemiology at the Detroit Medical Center.

And Ryan Malosh, an assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health also made an appearance. He studies herd immunity due to vaccination.

Many businesses and trend watchers are asking when people will get back to offices, workshops, plants, restaurants, stores and studios.

Has work changed forever? And if it has, what does it mean for America’s downtowns which have been work hubs for ages?

On Sunday, we also looked into the not too distant future with Eric Larson who leads the downtown Detroit partnership. Kevin Johnson, president and CEO of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and Carolyn Cassin, president and CEO of Michigan Women Forward also made appearances.

Segment One

Ryan Malosh, assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and Dr. Teena Chopra, a professor of infectious diseases at Wayne State University.

Segment Two

Eric Larson, head of Downtown Detroit Partnership; Kevin Johnson, president and CEO of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and Carolyn Cassin, president and CEO of Michigan Women Forward.

Segment Three

Flashpoint host Devin Scillian wraps up this week’s episode.



About the Author:

Devin Scillian is equally at home on your television, on your bookshelf, and on your stereo. Devin anchors the evening newscasts for Local 4. Additionally, he moderates Flashpoint, Local 4's Sunday morning news program. He is also a best-selling author of children's books, and an award-winning musician and songwriter.