Health Experts Praise Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s Book ‘World War C’ Which Examines the COVID-19 Crisis and What Lies Ahead
- The CNN chief medical correspondent discusses ways of making our lives pandemic proof and protecting from similar threats in the future.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in March last year, CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been on every news segment on CNN and CNN International, almost every day, providing information, advice and analysis about all things COVID-19. Undoubtedly, he is America’s doctor during the most serious healthcare crisis the country has ever encountered.
During his reporting in the pandemic, Gupta has been privy to insider and behind-the-scenes news, including exclusive conversations with the world’s top public health experts and scientists working on finding treatments and cures. That information resulted in his latest book, “World War C: Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic and How to Prepare for the Next One.”
In the book, co-authored with Kristin Loberg, Gupta delves into what happened, and how it’s changed our life, now, and in the future as well. He also offers practical tools to ready ourselves for what lies ahead. Gupta collected data after talking with the country’s top public health experts, including White House adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci and former head of the CDC Robert Redfield.
A multiple Emmy-winning journalist, Gupta, who began his career at CNN in 2001, just months before 9/11, is probably the most visible and internationally recognized medical correspondent. He may well be the most recognized ethnic Indian journalist in the world.
When NPR asked Gupta to characterize where we are right now in this crisis, he replied: “If I were to think of the country as my own patient, I think, you know, the patient is still in intensive care.”
According to the book’s synopsis on publisher Simon & Schuster’s website, “Gupta argues that we need to prepare for a new era where pandemics will be more frequent, and possibly even more deadly.” He also discusses hot-button issues like long-haul COVID and vaccine hesitancy and skepticism. “‘World War C’ will give you hope for the future along with real information that leaves you more resilient and secure,” Simon & Schuster adds.
Gupta has been hailed by health experts and authors for not only the contents of the book but the way in which he breaks down the science and the data for a layman.
In his review of the book in the Palm Beach Post, Steve Dorfman praises Gupta’s tone and style. “Just as he does when discussing the pandemic on-air, Gupta adopts a sober and realistic — but never pessimistic — view of where we are in the pandemic.”
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, took to Twitter to rave about the book. “The most frequent question I get is ‘how can I protect my family from Covid and similar threats’ – @drsanjaygupta offers the only detailed, vivid, practical guide to making your lives pandemic proof and protecting from the threat of respiratory diseases.”
The publishing company Hachette has shared some reviews of the book by authors and health experts. “If there is any ‘must read’ book about COVID-19, this is, without a doubt, the one,” says Dr. Peter Jay Hotez, a scientist, pediatrician, and advocate in the fields of global health, vaccinology, and neglected tropical disease control.
Similarly, Washington Post contributing columnist Leana Wen says the book is “a must-read for how we can emerge stronger as individuals and as a society.” Wen, the former Baltimore health commissioner and author of “Lifelines,” continues: “With his characteristic curiosity, compassion, and humility, combined with unparalleled talent as a master storyteller, Dr. Gupta presents the defining history of the greatest public health catastrophe of our lifetimes.”
According to Andy Slavitt, former senior advisor of COVID-19 response at the Biden White House, the book is “part murder mystery, part practical how-to-survive guide.” He says Gupta’s “World War C” is “a tour de force,” where he “divulges, as few others can, what you didn’t hear about in the news during the pandemic, and equips us with the everyday tools to stay safe and chase life like never before.”
Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of “The Code Breaker,” praises Gupta for his “brilliant reporting from the front lines of the fight against COVID,” and for producing “a book filled with hope and optimism that draws on the lessons of the recent past to give people a grounded sense of how to navigate the future.”