COVID-19 AMA: WHO Tests Drugs For Ill Patients, 3 Airlines Not Mandating Employee Vaccinations And More
In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Sam Torbati, M.D., co-chair of the department of emergency medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Topics today include:
- WHO testing 3 drugs against COVID-19
- American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Delta Airlines not mandating vaccine for employees
- Do symptoms from the Delta variant differ from the original strain?
- California doing better against Delta than Florida and Texas
- Public health experts urge Biden to confront global spread of COVID-19
- Despite J&J’s effectiveness toward Delta, questions still remain
- Huntington Hospital to require vaccination or proof of negative COVID-19 test before entering
Back-To-School: What Risks Does The Delta Variant Pose To Children And How Can Schools Keep Students And Staff Safe?
“Normal” is not the word Dr. Naomi Bardach would use to describe the upcoming school year in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Students and teachers will still have to wear masks and take weekly COVID-19 tests, whether they’re vaccinated or not. LAUSD is still paying for a stepped-up cleaning regimen on its campuses. No more Zoom-in-a-room classes. No more attending classes in morning or afternoon shifts, like students did last spring. Most students will attend classes on-campus, five days a week, six hours per day.
But the Delta variant has tempered some excitement for back-to-school, as parents, students and teachers worry what the variant could mean for children’s health. Joining us to discuss is Naomi Bardach, a practicing pediatrician, associate professor of pediatrics at UCSF and leader of the state’s Safe Schools for All team, which provides guidance and accountability to minimize in-school transmission.
Read more on LAist
US Senate Passes $3.5T Budget Blueprint -- What’s In It For Californians And What Happens Next
Democrats pushed a $3.5 trillion framework for bolstering family services, health, and environment programs through the Senate early Wednesday, advancing President Joe Biden’s expansive vision for reshaping federal priorities just hours after handing him a companion triumph on a hefty infrastructure package. Lawmakers approved Democrats’ budget resolution on a party-line 50-49 vote, a crucial step for a president and party set on training the government’s fiscal might at assisting families, creating jobs and fighting climate change. Higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations would pay for much of it.
Today on AirTalk, we’ll dive into what’s in the budget framework, the specific ways Californians would be impacted, and what happens now as the bill moves to the House of Representatives. Larry discusses with U.S. senator for California Alex Padilla, KPCC/LAist infrastructure reporter Sharon McNary and Bloomberg reporter Laura Davidson.
With files from the Associated Press
The Importance Of Diversity In Children’s Books, What Publishers And Bookstores Can Do To Help And More
Overall, Latino representation in new children’s books has increased — to 6% in 2020 — but still falls well short of matching the proportion of Latino kids living in the United States, which is 26%.
It’s part of a greater lack of diversity in children’s media that has existed for decades. The Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Wisconsin Madison began tracking the diversity of authors and stories in 1985. They started with the number of books by Black authors and illustrators that year: 18 of 2,500 books published — less than 1%. Today on AirTalk, we discuss efforts to address the lack of diversity in children’s books, the role publishers can play and more. We also want to hear from you! Tell us your thoughts or experiences by calling 866-893-5722 or emailing atcomments@kpcc.org.
Read the full story from Mariana Dale here.