health

San Francisco plans to spend about $35 million to house first responders and homeless individuals in hotel rooms during the coronavirus crisis.

This week we’re publishing a series of interviews to learn more about the effect coronavirus has had on people globally. Each day, we'll check in with a reporter who works abroad, but is or has been affiliated with KALW.

The Bay Area has been applauded for its response to the coronavirus. Early shelter-in-place guidelines were put into place and experts say the curve is beginning to flatten. But there are big hurdles ahead.

When Governor Gavin Newsom issued his shelter-in-place order in mid-March, he said the elderly need to stay at home alone. Research has shown that loneliness can be as deadly as many other diseases. We checked in to see what seniors are doing to stay connected while staying safe.

Walter Parenteau and his housemates run an all-volunteer soup kitchen in San Francisco’s Mission District. Their goal is to provide hospitality for anyone who walks through the door, but how are they dealing with the changes that the coronavirus brings? 

Every day, KALW reports the number of new coronavirus cases in the Bay Area. But, we also know there aren’t enough tests available to confirm every case. Some people who experience symptoms are told by their doctors to just stay home and quarantine.

The gooming industry is one of many that have been hit hard by coronavirus closures — nail shops, hair salons, and barbershops. The government doesn’t consider them essential services.

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin has often described walking through steel gates to visit his parents in prison as a kid. Now a correctional officer who works at the prison in New York State where his father is in custody has tested positive for COVID-19.

Most of us are working from home, including the staff of KALW. In fact, this show was put together using apps like Slack, Zoom and a variety of recording and file sharing services. It’s been an adjustment, but many of us are realizing how much we can communicate and do without meeting in person.

John Pearson works in the emergency room at Highland Hospital in Oakland. He says healthcare workers there were already experiencing critical shortages before COVID-19 existed.

This story was updated with additional reporting on March 18, 2020 at 8:21pm.

The Bay Area’s historic shelter-in-place order is intended to slow the spread of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus. But it could have a profound impact on low-wage workers, who live month-to-month. Low-wage immigrant workers are particularly vulnerable, and some of the programs available to them are struggling to stay up and running.

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On this edition of Your Call, we’ll discuss how the coronavirus outbreak is impacting the US healthcare system and hospitals across the country. How are nurses, doctors, and medical personnel on the frontlines being affected?

America is in a health crisis, but it’s also been in a housing crisis. For almost a quarter of renters, more than half of their income goes to their landlord. Eviction displaces a million households a year. About four million people spend at least three hours driving to and from work.

Bay Area school districts have scrambled to put plans in place to keep feeding low-income students during virus-related school closures. On Monday, March 16, 2020, the first Grab ‘N Go sites welcomed Oakland families. 

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California is taking stronger measures to slow the spread of COVID-19. Disneyland shut down. Same with sports. And the San Francisco Unified School District will be closed to students for three weeks beginning Monday. But what's being done for the most vulnerable?

Health workers and officials continue to process, treat, and quarantine passengers who were aboard the Grand Princess Cruise Ship that docked in Oakland on Monday.

The Indian festival ‘Holi’ is usually a riot of abandonment and color…but then Corona came to town.  

PFAS is a man-made superchemical used to make carpets stain-resistant and pans nonstick, but it’s toxic to human health. It’s also turning up in drinking water supplies nationwide. Wherever people test for it, it seems to show up, and California’s just beginning to test, thanks to a new state law.

You may not have heard of the chemical PFAS, but you probably touched it at some point today. It’s a man-made chemical in tons of products in our homes, like nonstick pans and food packaging. But it’s toxic. And in at least one preschool in Berkeley, it’s in the carpets. 

Once a year, Oakland’s Kaiser Medical Center transforms into a scene out of a high school movie. For the teen patients being treated for chronic illness, hospital staff put on an event called the Pediatric Prom.

On January 1, California became the first state in the country to extend Medicaid benefits to all low-income adults, regardless of their immigration status. Over 100,000 additional Californians are eligible for health coverage under the new law, the latest piece of legislation in the state’s ongoing push for universal health coverage.

On this edition of Your Call, Jennifer Gaddis discusses her new book The Labor of Lunch: Why We Need Real Food and Real Jobs in American Public Schools.

If you live in West Oakland, you’re more likely to visit the emergency room for a respiratory illness than anywhere else in the Bay Area. The culprit is diesel pollution, and heavy-duty trucks are a big part of the problem. Now, truckers like Bill Aboudi are going to be part of the solution.

Every 15 hours, someone is taken to the San Francisco General Hospital after being hit by a car. That’s according to San Francisco Chronicle Reporter Heather Knight.

Hey Area is where we find answers to questions you ask. One listener wanted to know, "Where is the best place in East Oakland to buy fresh produce with WIC vouchers?"

Eric Cetnarski works as a sound healer in Oakland. Sound healing can be many things: from listening to our favorite songs to using our voices. 

Stories of abuse or serious neglect in nursing homes make headlines, but patients and consumer advocates are trying to bring attention to overarching issues and push for a better system.

Patricia McGinnis, executive director of California Advocated for Nursing Home Reform, discusses the problems in the nursing care industry.

As California ages, the demand for nursing home beds is exceeding the supply. Advocates say it is especially difficult for seniors who need long-term care because our health care system incentivizes providers to favor short-term patients.