Ronni Hannaman: Dr. Merritt Dunlap to shed light ongoing COVID confusion

If you’re confused about this continuing pandemic that seems to ebb and flow for reasons not quite understood even by those within the Center for Disease Control, we invite you to join the Chamber for a special luncheon featuring a no-nonsense local medical doctor who will shed some light on what we can expect as we enter the fall season now being touted as another COVID surge along with the traditional flu season.Around St. Patrick’s Day 2020, the COVID nightmare began as officials nationally, statewide, and locally scrambled to do what they thought was the right thing by telling us what or what not to do as we realized there was a serious health emergency upon us.Today, COVID still rules our lives and has forever changed how we live. Those of us who survived the early onslaught and did all the right things and had the required shots and boosters are today getting COVID in spite of all the assertions we would be protected. Even the CDC now admits there was a lack of transparency and communication failures.You’ll meet and hear one of Carson’s favorite family medicine doctors who has been advising his patients about the latest pandemic trends while keeping them sane and safe throughout.Dunlap has earned the American Board of Family Medicine certification and has received many awards including the doctor of the year, compassionate doctor recognition, Patient’s Choice award, and many more throughout his years practicing in our city. He received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Nevada School of Medicine, Reno, in 1993 and interned at the Naval Hospital at Camp Pendleton where he also completed his residency.Dunlap will be transparent and will shed light on those sometimes over the top soundbites and headlines and advise you how to navigate this next possible omicron variant and what the best source of protection will be.For the price of a great lunch featuring none other than chicken noodle soup which, as you know, is packed with a range of macro and micronutrients, along with other healthy items, this luncheon will give you a sense of how to further navigate this enduring pandemic as we enter what was once the traditional flu season.The luncheon will be held Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 11:30 a.m. at the Gold Dust West in Carson City. Cost is $20 per person and includes lunch and an antigen test kit. The luncheon is open to the public. Reservations can be made online at www.carsoncitychamber.com/spotlight/details/soups_on or by calling 775-882-1565.