Coronavirus

More than anything else the pandemic has forced us to reckon with what really lies at the heart and soul of Durga Puja. And it’s not necessarily big budgets grand feasts and corporate sponsorships.

The Humanist Hall in Oakland has been hosting indoor, in-person events since July, despite COVID-related restrictions. These include weddings, birthday parties, and wakes. Many have exceeded 100 people. 

Governor Newsom announced this week  that California will not distribute a federally approved COVID-19 vaccine without putting it under the state’s scrutiny first. He created a scientific review committee to help with the process.

Dr. Arthur Reingold is the head of the Epidemiology Division at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. And he’s the chair of this new vaccine committee. 

Yesterday, one Bay Area county moved forward with reopening while just across the water, another remained stuck in shelter-in-place.

A new study from UCSF shows that new rapid COVID tests could be key for lowering infection rates.

Back in March, city leaders closed San Francisco’s playgrounds. Stopping the spread of COVID-19 became the number one priority. It has been a long 7 months. But on Wednesday, Mayor London Breed announced San Francisco’s outdoor public playgrounds could reopen. 

Wildfires have caused record-breaking stretches of bad air quality in the Bay Area these last few years. In this interview, Dr. Gina Solomon from UCSF and the Public Health Institute speaks about the long term health effects of breathing in all this smoke.

Writer and actor Rupert Everett spoke recently with Sandip Roy for the Jaipur Lit. Fest. about comparing pandemics and sainthood.

On this edition of Your Call, we’re discussing Totally Under Control, a new documentary that exposes the Trump administration’s failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Filmmaker Alex Gibney says it was a system-wide collapse caused by a profound dereliction of leadership.

Four Bay Area counties have failed to meet California's new COVID-19 health equity requirements. They won’t be able to reopen any further until they do.

Like other businesses, small movie theaters are also fighting to survive in the age of COVID. Derek Zemrak knows first hand. He owns the Orinda Theatre, which turns 80 next year. Derek talks about the future of the film industry and movie theaters.

Regal Cinemas, the second-largest movie theater chain, recently announced they were temporarily closing all 536 of their U.S. theaters this week due to the pandemic. Derek is trying to keep the Orinda Theatre afloat with fundraisers and virtual events.

Click the play button above to listen to this interview.

On Tuesday, State Health Officials announced that three more Bay Area counties will be allowed to reopen additional businesses. 

COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting Black and Latinx California residents. And it’s not just the coronavirus. Across the board, CDC data shows that Black Americans have lower life expectancies than white people in the U.S. — and research suggests that racism is one reason why.

Schools across the Bay Area are back in session — both virtually and in-person. But some are still feeling the effects of COVID-19 on the last school year. Research shows that 2008 graduates are still experiencing impacts of the Great Recession. So what can 2020 graduates expect? 

San Francisco students have been back to school for nearly a month now, and a lot has changed for students — and for teachers. Amanda Levin is currently a teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District at Leadership High School, and she’s been teaching for nearly three decades. As part of our ongoing series The Essentials, we’re bringing you overlooked stories of essential workers: people who are still being called to work while most of us are sheltered in place.

Two Bay Area counties have moved from purple to red under the Governor’s new color coded system for monitoring Covid.

Millions of U.S. office workers have now stretched into their sixth month of the world’s largest work-from-home experiment. Before the pandemic started, just 4% of Americans worked from home. Once the pandemic kicked in, that number jumped to 34%.

On this edition of Your Call, we're getting an update on a COVID-19 vaccine. According to The New York Times' vaccine tracker, more than 165 vaccines are being developed, but only 32 are currently in human trials, while eight have made it to Phase 3 trials.

Like many people, back in April, Christin New needed something to look forward to. Not only was a pandemic spreading around the word, she’d just had a miscarriage. So when she and her husband found out they were expecting, they were overjoyed. 

In Alameda County, more than one out of every ten COVID-19 cases can be traced back to a single neighborhood’s zip code. Fruitvale is a dense, predominantly Latinx community in East Oakland, and its COVID-19 case rate is higher than Florida’s and Georgia’s, two of the hardest hit states in the country. 

On Tuesday, The San Francisco Board of Supervisors reluctantly approved a settlement with UC Hastings over tent encampments and unhealthy living conditions in the Tenderloin.

On this edition of Your Call, we’re getting an update on COVID-19 as the US death toll passed 170,000 this week. Six months in and we still don’t have a national plan.

Earlier this month a group of East Bay hair stylists and salon owners gathered outside Flaunt Hair Designs in Pleasanton. They were there to plot ways to convince public health officials to let them open up, and the group agreed to stage a mass reopening in defiance of stay-at-home orders.

Today is the first day of the new school year for thousands of K-12 students around the Bay. All classes are online-only. But, there is a push to get kids back into real classrooms.

  On the next City Visions, East Bay Congressman - and former presidential candidate - Eric Swalwell will talk about protecting our elections, providing covid relief, and fighting corruption, among other topics. 

We will also feature our regular COVID update with Chronicle Health Reporter Erin Allday and UCSF doctor Peter Chin-Hong, as well as the comedy of local favorite, Zahra Noorbakhsh.  

Guests: 

Drivers crossing Bay Area bridges without paying tolls have collectively racked up a $16 million dollar bill, over the past few months. How did that number get so high?

Sandip Roy wonders if the new normal is really normal.

"Coronavirus Rhapsody" by Raúl Iravién on YouTube here:

Alameda county plans to pay coronavirus victims to stay home and quarantine. But, who qualifies for this assistance?

California appears to be flying somewhat blind as it battles rising rates of COVID-19.