COLUMBUS, Ohio — Dr. Amy Acton has quickly become a household name.
Each day, Ohioans have been hanging on her every word as she provides vital updates in the battle to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Although some may be feeling a sense of hopelessness through these unprecedented times, Dr. Acton has an important message for all of us.
“Things will get better,” she tells 3News’ Russ Mitchell. “Infectious diseases like these, they will come and we will fight it and we will eventually have a vaccine. It will become a history story again.”
Dr. Acton, who is the director of the Ohio Department of Health, said this situation is also teaching us some very important things that will impact our future.
“We have learned a lot in the wake of it. I think you’ll see a lot of changes that take place in how we develop our public health and healthcare systems. You’ll see changes in technology. You’ll see changes in the ways we treat each other.”
Hope, after all, is important for all of us.
“I want you to have hope. I feel hope -- even now in the thick of the storm -- because I am seeing things that we have long forgotten, and ways of us treating each other in our busy lives that we have forgotten. I have absolute hope that we will emerge from this stronger and better than we’ve ever been.”
You can watch our full 18-minute conversation with Dr. Acton in the player below: