Today on AirTalk, we talk about California's plan in lifting most COVID-19 restrictions on businesses by June 15. Also on the show, we discuss the impact of a potential boycott on the Beijing Olympic Games; go over the latest COVID-19 news; and more.
California To Lift Most COVID-19 Workplace, Biz Restrictions By Mid-June
California plans to lift most coronavirus restrictions on businesses and workplaces June 15, with officials saying enough people should be vaccinated by then to allow for life to almost get back to a pre-pandemic normal.
The mask mandate in the nation’s most populated state will stay in effect, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday, and he cautioned that California will reopen more widely in mid-June only if vaccine supply is sufficient and hospitalization rates stay stable and low. Still, the Democratic governor, who has overseen some of the most restrictive pandemic rules in the country, said it was time to forge ahead, with 20 million vaccines administered in California to date. The announcement signals an end date to more than a year of isolation after California resisted reopening too quickly even while other states pushed ahead.
“We can confidently say by June 15 that we can start to open up as business as usual, subject to ongoing mask-wearing and ongoing vigilance,” Newsom said. “So this is a big day.”
The announcement comes as states across the country have lifted health restrictions as more people get vaccinated. California had some of the nation’s strictest pandemic rules, becoming the first to institute a statewide stay-at-home order last spring and adopting a complex, color-coded tier system in August that dictated which businesses could open and at what capacity depending on how widespread the virus was in a county. Today on AirTalk, we talk with different stakeholders about the plans to lift restrictions and what this could look like in SoCal. Do you have questions or thoughts? Give us a call at 866-893-5722.
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Jot Condie, president & CEO of the California Restaurant Association, an advocacy organization for the restaurant industry
Ying-Ying Goh, director of public health and health officer for the City of Pasadena
Maria Salinas, president and CEO of LA Area Chamber of Commerce; she tweets
Kelly Colopy, director of the Health and Human Services Department for the city of Long Beach
Impact Of Potential China Olympic Games Boycott On LA’s Economy, Plus A 1980 Moscow Boycott History Lesson
China’s government warned Washington on Wednesday not to boycott next year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing after the Biden administration said it was talking with allies about a joint approach to complaints of human rights abuses.
A Foreign Ministry spokesperson rejected accusations of abuses against ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region. He warned of an unspecified “robust Chinese response” to a potential Olympics boycott.
Human rights groups are protesting China’s hosting of the games, due to start in February 2022. They have urged a boycott or other measures to call attention to accusations of Chinese abuses against Uyghurs, Tibetans and residents of Hong Kong.
The U.S. State Department suggested an Olympic boycott was among the possibilities but a senior official said later a boycott has not been discussed. The International Olympic Committee and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee have said in the past they oppose boycotts.
We discuss the potential repercussions of a U.S. boycott of the China games and their ripple effects to the 2028 Los Angeles games.
With files from the Associated Press.
Guests:
David Wharton, feature sportswriter for the Los Angeles Times who’s been covering the Olympics; he tweets
Stephen Cheung, president of World Trade Center Los Angeles, a nonprofit organization that focuses on attracting foreign direct investments to the Los Angeles region; he is also the chief operating officer for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), a non-profit that promotes and secures economic activity for the region; he tweets
Nicholas Evan Sarantakes, associate professor of strategy and policy at U.S. Naval War College in Rhode Island, historian and author of the book “Dropping the Torch: Jimmy Carter, the Olympic Boycott, and the Cold War,” (Cambridge University Press, 2010)
COVID-19: California Sets Sights On Full Reopening In June
In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Tim Brewer from UCLA.
Today’s topics include:
AstraZeneca vaccine paused in adolescents after blot clot concerns
Double mutant variant found in California
More than 40% of new cases coming out of five states
Young Angelenos head to Bakersfield for vaccine
Study: 1 in 3 develop neuropsychiatric conditions after COVID-19
U.S Army developing vaccine, begins testing in humans
Most children with inflammatory syndrome had mild COVID-19
Guest:
Timothy Brewer, M.D., epidemiologist and professor of medicine at UCLA’s school of public health; has served on the advisory boards of the World Health Organization, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Implication Of New Research That Grew Mouse Embryos In Artificial Womb
According to a recent study published in Nature, scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel were able to grow mouse embryos in an artificial womb for several days.
Though the mice have yet to be fully gestated in a robotic womb, this research has some interesting potential applications. According to the New York Times, this experimentation could lead to a great understanding of early development and could have applications in fertility as well. And though it may seem far off in the sci-fi future, this also opens the door for the potential for human embryos to be carried to term outside a human body.
We sit down with New York Times medical reporter Gina Kolata and developmental biologist Paul Tesar to discuss the research and its potential implications.
Guests:
Gina Kolata, medical reporter at the New York Times, where her recent piece is “Scientists Grow Mouse Embryos in a Mechanical Womb”; she tweets
Paul Tesar, professor of genetics and developmental biologist at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine; he tweets