Today on AirTalk, we give the latest on the coronavirus in SoCal and have our daily listener Q&A with our medical expert. Also on the show, we interview LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva; take a look at how landlords are being impacted by the outbreak; and more.
COVID-19: US Continues To See Rise, LA County Confirmed Cases Now Top 800
COVID-19 continues to rapidly spread in many countries, including the United States, with cases worldwide now topping 491,000. Since last weekend, the U.S. has had the third-highest total confirmed cases in the world. The number of confirmed cases here now stands at 69,210 as of 7 a.m. Thursday.
In L.A. County today, Public Health director Barbara Ferrer had sobering news to report: The mortality rate for coronavirus now sits at 1.5% nationwide and 1% in L.A. County. That rate is higher than what we experience with annual flu cases.
The county has 266 new confirmed cases in the last 48 hours, bringing the total so far to at least 812. That includes three new COVID-19 related deaths, all people older than 65 and with underlying health conditions. As the numbers continue to go up, state and local officials have shut down more beach parking lots. Many cities have moved to bar recreation and sports at parks and close hiking trails. These moves came after too many people crowded public spaces over the weekend despite dire warnings about the virus spreading rapidly. Health officials continue to stress that they are seeing most cases in people under the age of 65. Ferrer has said 80% of the cases have been people between 18-65, and 42% have been people between 18-40.
With files from LAist. Read the full story here.
Guest:
Peter Chin-Hong, M.D., infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at the UCSF Medical Center; he tweets
Tenant And Landlords Rights In Los Angeles During CV-19
As the first of the month approaches, renters across California whose jobs and livelihoods have been curtailed or completely shut down due to COVID-19 are struggling to figure out how to pay their rent, and likewise many landlords across the state are wondering how they’ll pay the mortgage on their building.
Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom stopped short of ordering a statewide eviction ban, instead issuing an executive order which permits cities and counties to implement their own eviction bans if they so choose. Cities including Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Francisco, San Diego and San Jose have all issued their own moratoriums on evictions of people who can’t pay their rent due to the coronavirus outbreak.. The California Apartment Association issued its own guidelines for landlords, which included freezing rent payments, requiring no increases be issued, and banning evictions of people suffering from COVID-19, barring extraordinary circumstances. And at the federal level, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Monday that landlords with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac could avoid foreclosure so long as they did not evict tenants during the shutdowns caused by the outbreak.
If you’re an owner or manager of an apartment building or multi-family housing unit, or someone who rents a unit in one, we’ll be taking your questions about landlords’ and tenants’ rights during the coronavirus pandemic. Join the live conversation by calling us at 866-893-5722.
Guests:
Lupe Arreola, executive director of Tenants Together, a statewide coalition of local tenant organizations dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of California tenants
Fred Sutton, senior vice president of public affairs for the Los Angeles office of the California Apartment Association, a statewide trade group representing owners, investors, developers, managers and suppliers of rental homes and apartment communities in California
Interview: Alex Villanueva And Supe Sheila Kuehl On Sheriff’s Role To Lead Emergency Ops During CV-19
Yesterday, Sheriff Villanueva said that he’d put a pause on gun store closure efforts until further clarification from the Governor.
This was after the LA County Counsel’s office said that since neither the Governor’s nor the County’s orders mentioned gun shops specifically, they should be deemed essential.
Then, Newsom kicked the can back to the Sheriff, saying he would leave it up to Sheriffs to make that decision for their jurisdictions. Meanwhile, the L.A. County Supervisors are taking actions to remove the Sheriff from his post as head of emergency operations during this pandemic. Several Supervisors have said that this move is unrelated to the Sheriff’s actions regarding gun stores.
We talked with L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and Supervisor Sheila Kuehl on the latest.
Guests:
Sheila Kuehl, Los Angeles County Supervisor representing District 3, which stretches from the ocean to Los Feliz, and from Venice up to San Fernando
Alex Villanueva, Sheriff of Los Angeles County; he tweets
How Asian Americans In SoCal Are Navigating Instances of Xenophobia And Bigotry Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
President Trump's use of the term "Chinese virus" to describe the coronavirus pandemic last week raised eyebrows across the country, especially in places like Los Angeles and San Francisco which are home to large Chinese-American and Asian-American populations.
The president has defended his use of the term, arguing his intent was to be accurate because the virus originated in China, despite guidance from the World Health Organization urging people not to use geographic locations when naming the virus. On Monday, he revisited the subject in a tweet and said that Asian-Americans aren't responsible for the diseases spread, and should be protected. He has since said he would stop using the term. But that hasn't persuaded many public officials, health experts and Chinese-American and Asian-Americans who have accused the president of racism and xenophobia, and say the adoption and proliferation of terms like this will only lead more people to inaccurately connect the spread of disease with Asian-Americans. Research from academics at San Francisco State University found a 50 percent increase over about a one month period in the amount of news stories related to coronavirus and discrimination towards Asian-Americans. And while hard data doesn't exist yet, Asian-American advocacy groups have reported an increase in tips about verbal and even physical assaults since the start of the outbreak in the U.S.?
Today we'd like to hear from members of our Chinese-American and Asian-American listening community -- what has your experience been with this? Are you concerned about being the target of bigoted, xenophobic or racist remarks and has this affected how you go about your daily life amid the outbreak? Join our live conversation by calling 866-893-5722.
From 211LA.org:
If you have been the victim of or witness to an act of violence, bullying, harassment, threat, or other act motivated by hate, please fill out the Hate Incident Report Form or call 2-1-1 to file a report and be connected to support services.
Guest:
Robin Toma, executive director of the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, which is part of the County Department of Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services
Triple Play: The ‘We Miss Sports’ Edition
It's Opening Day for Major League Baseball, and yet no batting practice is being taken, no hot dogs are on the grill, and no choruses of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" are being sung during 7th inning stretches.
It would have been the first day Angels fans got to see 3B Anthony Rendon in Halos red and OF Mookie Betts in Dodger blue. But COVID-19 has pushed back the first day of baseball season, and today all 30 MLB stadiums will be vendor-less, fan-less and team-less. It’s still not clear when the season will start, though USA Today reports MLB executives optimistic projection is the beginning of June.
It’s not just baseball fans who are missing out. Today would also have marked the start of the second round of March Madness, but no one will be crossing names off their brackets today -- that tournament was postponed as well with no clear plans to reschedule it. The NBA playoff race would be heating up, too, with the season ending in mid-April. Barring complete meltdowns, the Lakers would still be fighting for their first playoff appearance in seven years and their first division title in eight with the Clippers hot on their heels in the division, or so it was when the league put the season on pause. And NFL fans are waiting anxiously to see if the late April rookie draft will proceed as scheduled, which the league says is currently the plan and is working on ways to involve prospects digitally. Until then, Rams and Chargers faithful will just have to argue over the teams’ new logos.
With none of the major sports in session right now, AirTalk’s Triple Play reconvenes to lament on the lack of the crack of the bat on Opening Day and commiserate over our collective missing of sports. How much are you missing your favorite sport? How are you filling the time you'd othewise be spending watching live sports? Join the Triple Play live at 866-893-5722.
Guests:
A. Martinez, host of KPCC’s “Take Two”; he tweets
Nick Roman, host of KPCC’s “All Things Considered”; he tweets