First, I wanted to ask you what you think about Governor Gavin Newsom new approach in the Central Valley.
If you look at the transmission rates in the Central Valley, they are super high.
One of the biggest challenges, especially among our frontline workers, is that they need personal resources to discover how to effectively isolate themselves and ensure that their wages are protected if they need to take time off from work.
But also, there must be investment in the sectors that employ these low-wage workers to make sure this is possible.
And we need additional investment, including making sure that evidence is available when public health departments are really affected by the increased transmission load.
It’s a little late, frankly, which is unfortunate. But the Central Valley needs attention.
Correct: I know from talking to you and other experts that it is not news that these communities are vulnerable.
I think what is challenging for the pandemic in general and for California in particular is that we cannot, as a state and / or county, continue to observe the average effects. Basically we have to change our resources.
That is what is frustrating. You will see that within San Francisco County, we focused on the Latinx community, because our average rates were low. But in all of our cities, it has been too late to even change the evidence to what is happening.
One of the things that attracts attention in the Central Valley, too, is how much our rhetoric betrayed our very urban prejudices, such as: “Close the beaches, close the bars.”
We should have said, “Being indoors, even when you’re with your family, is bad news.” You could look at the congregated setting that our farmworkers live in and just know that they were vulnerable.
But something about this pandemic: It seems to be difficult for us to be proactive.
The last time we spoke, you he mentioned being cautiously optimistic that this pandemic will show people how much health in communities is interconnected. Do you still feel that way?
What makes me optimistic is that people trying to tackle the pandemic are realizing that we can’t just run good public health announcements. There are big structural factors that make control difficult, and when things are challenging in one part of our community, the whole community really can’t do the things it wants to do and open up.
What makes me pessimistic over time is that there is a fatigue with this pandemic, which can cause people to fall into a narrative of “It’s those communities. I can have it under control, what is the problem?
The reality is that when our rural counties are overloaded, they transport patients to other counties. We all take care of patients in these counties. And the agricultural sector is an important part of our economy. If it doesn’t work, it will be something we will all pay for.
How would you talk to someone who is trying to navigate risk in their own life?
One of the things I hear from colleagues in epidemiology is that one of the best things public health departments can do is dig deeper. As in the last hundred cases, how did people get it?
The coronavirus outbreak>
Frequent questions
Updated July 27, 2020
-
Should I refinance my mortgage?
- It could be a good idea, because mortgage rates have never been lower. Refinancing applications have taken mortgage applications to some of the highest levels since 2008, so be ready to get online. But the defaults have increased, too, so if you’re thinking about buying a home, be aware that some lenders have tightened their standards.
-
What will school be like in September?
- Many schools are unlikely to return to normal hours this fall, requiring the routine of online learning, impromptu child care, and delayed work days to continue. California’s two largest public school districts, Los Angeles and San Diego, said July 13 that instruction will be remote only in the fall, citing concerns that rising coronavirus infections in their areas pose too serious a risk to students and teachers. Together, the two districts enroll about 825,000 students. They are the largest in the country so far to abandon plans for a partial physical return to classrooms when they reopen in August. For other districts, the solution will not be an all-or-nothing approach. Many systems, including the country’s largest New York City, are developing hybrid plans that involve spending a few days in classrooms and other days online. There is no national policy on this yet, so check with your municipal school system regularly to see what’s going on in your community.
-
Is the coronavirus in the air?
- Coronavirus can remain in the air for hours in tiny droplets in stagnant air, infecting people as they inhale, growing scientific evidence suggests. This risk is highest in crowded interior spaces with poor ventilation, and may help explain overcast events reported in meat packing plants, churches, and restaurants. It is unclear how often the virus is transmitted through these small droplets or sprays, compared to the larger droplets that are expelled when a sick person coughs or sneezes, or is transmitted through contact with contaminated surfaces, Linsey said. Marr, Virginia Tech aerosol expert. Aerosols are released even when a symptom-free person exhales, speaks or sings, according to Dr. Marr and more than 200 other experts, who have summarized the evidence in an open letter to the World Organization. Of the health.
-
What are the symptoms of coronavirus?
-
Does Covid-19 transmit asymptomatic?
- So far, the evidence seems to show that it does. A widely cited article published in April suggests that people are most infectious approximately two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms, and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were the result of transmission from people who still had no symptoms. Recently, a senior expert from the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people without symptoms was “very rare,” but later withdrew that claim.
I think we should be communicating with people so that they can start making decisions for themselves, rather than just shutting down large sections of life: that’s the mindset we have to be in instead of “All bars and restaurants are bad “or” I can’t meet anyone. “
The way I think about it is that closed and close contact environments, and especially when you are with many other people, are always riskier environments. And if you’re doing an activity that requires you to remove that mask, that’s something that increases your risk.
Do you think that some of these essential sectors have the potential to do well: be role models of how to keep people safe inside?
I think that is exactly correct. You will need some compliance, because clearly there are bad actors.
What I also hope is that the state that pours resources into our low-wage sectors really allows businesses and community leaders to say, “How can we redesign this? How can we bring people to humanitarian housing? ”
If we have creative and resource-committed community leaders, hopefully they can think about sustainability.
(This article is part of the California Today newsletter. sign up here for delivery to your inbox).
This is what is happening the most.
-
Teacher unions, including the powerful in California, they’re struggling for longer school closings as well as limits on how much teachers can do remotely. [The New York Times]
-
The governor said The state’s delay of nearly a million unemployment claims could take two months clean. [The Sacramento Bee]
-
A former Vallejo SWAT team commander said he was expelled from the city’s troubled Police Department after he expressed concern. that officers commemorated fatal shootings by doubling the dots on their insignia. [Open Vallejo]
-
The July Complex Fire in Northern California It has gotten bigger than the biggest fire last year. They are 127 square miles. [The Mercury News]
-
Tonight, the Lakers and Clippers will finally share a court again. [The New York Times]
-
If you missed, ahem, nothing fun faces that put Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly suspended for eight gamesCheck out the clip here. [The New York Times]
California Today kicks off at 6:30 am Pacific time on weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: [email protected]. Did you get this email forwarded to you? Sign up for California Today here and read each edition online here.
Jill Cowan grew up in Orange County, went to school at UC Berkeley, and has reported across the state, including the Bay Area, Bakersfield, and Los Angeles, but she always wants to see more. Follow along here or on Twitter.
California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley.
