Coronavirus

Golden Gate Fields is extending the closure of its horse racing track after a significant outbreak of COVID-19 continues to spread. Operators now face the task of trying to make sure the outbreak doesn’t jump beyond its perimeter. 

On this edition of Your Call, we’re rebroadcasting our conversation about Totally Under Control, a 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.

COVID-19 testing sites around the Bay Area are seeing an increase in testing. At a press conference on Monday, San Francisco’s Public Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax reminded people that a negative test result does not mean that it’s safe to gather with others over the holidays.

At the beginning of the Coronavirus shutdown, the city of San Francisco rented hotel rooms for over 2,300 homeless people. For many, it was the first time in years they had a bed and bathroom to themselves. Now, the city is gradually closing these shelter-in-place hotels.

As winter weather moved into San Francisco, Mayor London Breed had some chilly news for restaurant owners and their patrons. “Sadly, beginning the end of the day Friday, we will need to eliminate indoor dining” Breed said.

California's counties are expected to face more restrictions this week in the wake of a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Tonight State Senator Scott Wiener will share his harrowing experience being targeted by the far-right conspiracy-theory group QAnon. Senator Wiener received over a thousand death threats from QAnon followers after sponsoring SB 145, a state law that corrects an inequality in sex offender registration requirements. We will also get a COVID update from Erin Allday, San Francisco Chronicle health reporter. And are you missing live music in the Bay Area? We’ll hear from Pitch Perfect’s music director and San Francisco native, Deke Sharon.

On this edition of Your Call’s media roundtable, we're discussing Joe Biden's lead in key states like Nevada and Pennsylvania. He is on the verge of winning, according to the latest numbers.

On November 3, San Francisco began to phase out a program that provided its most vulnerable unhoused population with hotel rooms during the pandemic.  

  On this edition of Your Call’s Media Roundtable, we're discussing the Republican Party’s plot for permanent minority rule. Over the past few decades, they've successfully gerrymandered districts across the country, giving Republicans victories even though Democrats receive more votes. They've also passed voter suppression laws, including voter ID requirements, mass purges of voting rolls, and polling place closures. 

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.

  On this edition of Your Call’s Media Roundtable, we're discussing the new Frontline documentary Whose Vote Counts, which investigates Republican efforts to suppress the vote, from the past to the present. At least 47 million people have already voted. Whose vote counts? And whose doesn't?

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.

Durga Puja, the festival of the ten armed Goddess Durga, has always been a time of excess in Kolkata. But this is the story of the “Little Durga.”

For more information visit Meghdutam Foundation (https://www.meghdutamfoundation.org/)  

  On this edition of Your Call’s Media Roundtable, we're discussing the impacts of repealing the Affordable Care Act on tens of millions of Americans, especially low-income populations.

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’ll discuss COVID's fall surge. According to the Covid Tracking Project, the US is averaging 48,000 new cases a day, the highest numbers since mid-August.

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.

  On this edition of Your Call, we’re getting your take on the first and only vice presidential debate.

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. 

…the most incorrigible vice being that of an ignorance that fancies it knows everything and therefore claims for itself the right to kill.

  On this edition of Your Call, we're rebroadcasting our conversation with award winning journalist Ben Ehrenreich, author of Desert Notebooks: A Road Map for the End of Time. He examines how the unprecedented pace of destruction to the planet has led us to the brink of calamity.