The worst is yet to come, a Vanderbilt University Medical Center physician and professor tells area radio listeners next week.

Dr. William Schaffner, an internationally recognized specialist in infectious diseases, told public radio 91.3 WCPI the U.S. and Tennessee are “definitely on the upside of the curve” in the spread of the novel coronavirus responsible for COVID-19.  

But we have no way of knowing how high the curve of new cases will go, Schaffner said, and when it reach its peak before turning downward. In other words, we don’t know when things will begin to return to normal.

The World Health Organization, a United Nations agency, has declared the global health crisis to be a pandemic, meaning no human is safe.   

“Every person on the planet is vulnerable,” Schaffner stressed in an interview recorded Monday.  

Even our traditions of showing love and sympathy in the death of friends will probably have to change, he observed.

The custom of meeting families at a funeral home exposes older people to infection which could seriously, even fatally, endanger those with underlying health problems or weakened immune systems.  We should consider social distancing “and mourn respectfully at home.”

On the other end of the age spectrum, interactions with our young children can facilitate the transfer of the sub-microscopic virus between adults and youngsters, even when neither shows symptoms of the characteristic flu-like illness.

“These children can be asymptomatic carriers,” he cautioned, adding “this will need to be a hug-free zone.”

The WCPI “FOCUS” interview will air this coming Tuesday, March 31, at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday at 5:30 a.m., Thursday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 1 a.m. on 91.3 FM.

Schaffner said one of the most readily available and proven methods for reducing the COVID-19 risk is frequent and vigorous hand washing. He praised this age-old practice in personal hygiene as “an excellent way” to protect ourselves and others from the coronavirus threat.

The Vanderbilt professor said social distancing and the liberal use of soap and water remain the most effective measures we can take as individuals to reduce the spread of the virus. If everyone works to “flatten the curve,” our hospitals and clinics will be adequately prepared to serve those who do fall ill.

If we are careless, however, and use our own lungs as hosts and incubators for the pathogen, COVID-19 will surge, overwhelming the capacity of even the best-prepared hospitals, he warned.