[WEBCAST] Reopening Houston Amid COVID-19: Evaluating Next Steps
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Live Webcast
More than 97 percent of the U.S. population was under stay-at-home orders at the peak of the coronavirus crisis, as state and local officials directed the closure of non-essential businesses like restaurants, gyms, and retail stores. With economic concerns and unemployment growing, governors must weigh the careful balance between businesses' need to reopen and the public health need to prevent a resurgence of COVID-19 infections that may follow. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has begun the process of lifting stay-at-home orders for the state in phases, while public health officials emphasize the need to mitigate health risks through social distancing measures, to scale up production of tests and personal protective equipment, and to improve contact tracing.
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The timeline for lifting restrictions will differ across the country, as each state faces different COVID-19 realities in terms of testing ability, hospital capacity, reported cases, and deaths. With the responsibility for reopening left to states and cities, it will be vital for officials to make decisions driven by data and health experts and in coordination with business and community leaders.
Join Asia Society for a look at Houston's plans for moving toward reopening parts of the economy, the challenges facing officials, and the measures being taken to safeguard public health and safety.
Schedule
Thursday, May 21, 2020
7:30 p.m. Moderated Discussion
8 p.m. Audience Q&A — Questions welcome via YouTube Live and Facebook Live
About the Speakers
Marvin Odum served as Chairman/President of Shell Oil Company from 2008-16 and was a director/executive committee member of Royal Dutch Shell. In addition to working with and investing in several technology-based start-up companies, Odum is a board member of Europe-based Stena international and Stena Drilling, CEO of TerraLithium and Chairman of AAL LLC — focused on low carbon energy technologies. He is a board member of the National Urban League and MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the Dean’s Council for Harvard’s JFK School of Government, advisory board for University of Texas’s Cockrell School of Engineering and co-chair of the capital campaign for the University of Houston which has exceeded its goal of raising $1 billion. He was recently appointed by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner as the city's COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Czar.
Dr. Umair A. Shah has served as Executive Director and Local Health Authority for Harris County Public Health (HCPH) — the nationally accredited county public health agency for the nation’s 3rd largest county with 4.7 million people — since 2013. Dr. Shah earned his B.A. (philosophy) from Vanderbilt University; his M.D. from the University of Toledo Health Science Center; and completed an Internal Medicine Residency, Primary Care/General Medicine Fellowship, and M.P.H. (management), at the University of Texas Health Science Center. He also completed an international health policy internship at World Health Organization headquarters in Switzerland.
Upon completing training,Dr. Shah began a distinguished career as an emergency department physician at Houston’s Michael DeBakey VA Medical Center. He started his formal public health journey as Chief Medical Officer at Galveston County’s Health District before joining HCPH to oversee its clinical health system and infectious disease portfolio. Under his leadership, HCPH has won numerous national awards including recognition as Local Health Department of the Year from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) in 2016.
Dr. Shah currently holds numerous leadership positions with respected entities like the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention; Trust for America’s Health; Network for Public Health Law; and Texas Medical Association. He previously served as president of NACCHO (and its Texas affiliate) representing the nation’s nearly 3,000 local health departments. Over his career, Dr. Shah has been a clinician, an innovator, an educator, and a leader in health.
About the Moderator
Martyn E. Goossen is Vice Chairman of the J.P. Morgan Private Bank. Marty has over 40 years of experience in financial services, nearly all of which has been in the wealth management field. The majority of his career was spent working in Asia. Marty and his wife, Kathy, moved to Hong Kong with Citibank in 1978 and transferred to Tokyo in 1984. Marty joined JPMorgan Chase in Tokyo in 1988 and remained in Asia until 2006, when he moved to Houston to take the position as head of the Houston Private Bank and President of the Houston Region. In 2017, Marty was appointed to Vice Chairman of the J.P. Morgan Private Bank focusing on the south region of the United States. Marty has undertaken a number of civic responsibilities in Houston. He serves on the boards of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Asia Society Texas Center, Central Houston Inc., and The Houston Zoo. He is also a member of the Council of Overseers at Rice University’s Jones School of Business and is a Director of the Singapore American School Foundation. Marty received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1977 and a B.S. in Economics from Union College in Schenectady, New York.
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