San Diego Hospitals Brace For Surge In COVID-19 Patients

Speaker 1: 00:00 San Diego hospitals prepare for a COVID surge. Speaker 2: 00:05 We're very worried about the holiday. It could become a perfect storm that puts us in a COVID health. Speaker 1: 00:10 I'm Maureen Kavanaugh with Mark Sauer. This is KPBS midday edition As hate crime statistics increased nationwide. We'll check on the status of hate groups in San Diego. Speaker 2: 00:30 Are we actually, at the last two years, I've seen a pretty marked increase in crimes that are committed. Speaker 1: 00:36 If you must travel this Thanksgiving, make sure you take part in a travel bubble and the old Globes traditional Christmas play how the Grinch stole Christmas becomes a radio musical here on KPBS. That's a head-on mid day edition, Speaker 1: 01:00 The week long surge in Corona virus cases in San Diego continued Wednesday with the County reporting 718 new cases and seven additional deaths. As newly diagnosed cases continue to Mount local hospitals are counting the days until they see an upswing in COVID-19 patients suffering from serious disease and they are bracing for what could be a dangerous rise in infection. After the Thanksgiving holiday, joining me is KPBS North County reporter Tanya Thorne, and Tanya. Welcome to the program. Thanks for having me, Maureen, what are the hospital healthcare workers you spoke with concerned about? Is it the holidays, more events happening indoors? Speaker 3: 01:44 They have a couple of different concerns. The holidays are definitely a big one, one doctor, I mean said she saw an increase in COVID-19 cases just with Halloween weekend alone. So we're already kind of starting to see that. And as well as the cooler weather is starting to approach slowly, um, into San Diego, you know, that's going to keep more people in doors and confined. And now we're also talking about the holiday dinners, you know, more groups getting together in indoors and unmasked settings. So this is all worrying, um, health officials. Speaker 1: 02:17 Now there is a link between a surge in newly diagnosed cases and the number of hospitalizations. What kind of lag time is there between diagnosis and when people start showing up with serious illness, right? Speaker 3: 02:29 We're seeing up to two weeks, uh, that hospitalization lag time is behind because, you know, once they get their test results, they are waiting to get sick enough until they actually do have to go to the hospital and get medical attention. Speaker 1: 02:42 What's the status of San Diego's hospital and ICU bed capacity. Now, Speaker 3: 02:47 Now we're seeing 70% hospital capacity, but now this is including all cases, not just COVID-19 cases, the UT reports that local hospitalizations continued their gradual upward trajectory, reaching a countywide combined census of 387 Monday, including 24 new admissions. The latest number puts the region near the record of 411 reached according to County records in early July. So that's definitely going up, especially as we just, you know, we're approaching the cooler weather and we just saw the Halloween weekend pass. And so these numbers are going up and they're definitely raising flags to a lot of the hospitals and medical officials. I spoke to, you know, three different San Diego hospitals. And right now they're all seeing those increases in their hospitals. Speaker 1: 03:35 I spoke with a doctor at Scripps who actually saw disturbing signs in ICU increases. Speaker 3: 03:42 Yes, dr. Ghazala Sharif with Scripps health said the current numbers are going back to records. We had reached back in July. So instead of having the numbers go down and they're starting to go back up to numbers, we saw, you know, back in July and in her facility alone, this is raising major flags Speaker 2: 03:59 More concerning for us is that from yesterday, today we have six more intensive care unit patients. And that that's a flag for us. Speaker 1: 04:06 Now last summer, San Diego got the resources for an overflow field hospital. Didn't it? Can you remind us about that? Speaker 3: 04:14 Yeah. You know, this is something that happened back in April San Diego County chose Palomar medical center in Escondido as a location for a federal field station with 200 beds. This location was chosen as opposed to having a convention center or tent set up because Palomar really had the space and the resources should they need them? Now if San Diego, uh, hospitals reach capacity, then that's when we would tap into this federal field hospital. Uh, this is a resource that San Diego has yet to use. Uh, we haven't had the need to do that and the beds are there. They're sitting empty and they could be available within a 24 hour notice. Speaker 1: 04:55 Okay. So they can ramp up really quickly. Overall though, apparently from your report, the doctors you spoke with said right now, San Diego hospitals are doing okay, but I remember one of the doctors in your report also had a warning. Tell us about that. Speaker 3: 05:10 Yes. You know, most of the doctors feel well-prepared with as far as PPE and their staffing, but dr. Christopher Long hearse with UC San Diego health said, although the hospitals are prepared for a surge, that feeling could change. Speaker 2: 05:25 We're very worried about the holidays. It could become a perfect storm that puts us in a coven Hill Speaker 3: 05:30 And that's definitely something we want to avoid. So all the health officials I spoke with are urging the community to continue wearing their masks and follow state guidelines, especially as the holidays approach in order to avoid further COVID 19 cases from rising. Speaker 1: 05:44 I've been speaking with KPBS North County reported Tonya Thorne. Thank you so much for speaking with us. Thanks for having me, Maureen, Speaker 2: 05:56 A report released by FBI this week Speaker 4: 05:58 Showed hate crimes in 2019 Rose to the highest level. In more than a decade, there were 51 murders motivated by hate the FBI reported including 22 people killed in the El Paso Wal-Mart shooting in which the suspect said he targeted Mexicans joining me to put a local focus on this phenomenon is deputy district attorney Leonard trend, the lead hate crimes prosecutor in San Diego County. Welcome to the program. Thank you for having me. The incidents of hate crimes is increasing across the United States. What is the case here in San Diego? Is the County seeing more hate crimes this year? Speaker 5: 06:32 Yeah, we actually, the last two years, I've seen a pretty marked increase in hate crimes that are committed, um, in 2016 and 2017, the number of cases that were prosecuted by our office were, uh, around 14, 13 per year. But the last two years, uh, we prosecuted 30 hate crimes in each of those, uh, years. Speaker 4: 06:53 And, uh, we all have kind of a general idea of what a hate crime is, but what makes a crime a hate crime? Legally, Speaker 5: 07:00 When we look at hate crimes, what we're looking for is the motivation for why that crime is committed. And if that motivation is, uh, based on a bias against the victims, uh, race, ethnicity, or nationality, their sexual orientation, their religion, their gender, or their disability, that's what qualifies it as a hate crime in California. Speaker 4: 07:22 And, uh, is it, uh, difficult to get the evidence and prove these types of crimes compared with other crimes? It sounds like it's a challenge. Speaker 5: 07:30 Yeah. So when, whenever we talk about motive, we're trying to get into the head of, of the person who's committing the crime. And so, uh, oftentimes the only evidence that we have is what they say, uh, while they're committing the crime. If there's a use of a slur of some kind, that's some indication, uh, obviously if we have, uh, access to, uh, social media or, uh, electronic evidence that can also show that it was biased, motivated, that tends to be helpful. But if the, if the offender doesn't say anything, uh, during the course of the assault, then we don't have any indication that, that something is a hate crime Speaker 4: 08:07 Kinds of crimes. Do we see here most often the shooting at the Poway synagogue in April, 2019 was notorious of course, but what about some that don't make such big news? Speaker 5: 08:17 Yeah, most of them do tend to be assaulted in nature or at least threatening in nature. So, um, you know, throwing a punch at someone, um, brandishing a weapon, uh, or verbally threatening, threatening to kill someone, those are kind of the classic, uh, hate crimes that we see. We do see a fair amount of property crimes as well. Uh, so vandalisms, um, mostly, uh, like graffiti type things where, um, hateful messages are spray painted on churches and or schools, uh, that are meant to intimidate, uh, either people attending the houses of worship or, or the schools, Speaker 4: 08:52 And now who's committing these crimes or the groups, or the individuals are terribly organized, Speaker 5: 08:58 At least from what we've seen in, in San Diego, they do tend to be committed by, uh, by solo people who, who may have some, uh, interactions with other hate groups, uh, on social media platforms, but there doesn't appear to be any coordination or anything like that. Speaker 4: 09:15 And San Diego County is home to at least seven hate groups, according to the Southern poverty law. Center's 2018 map of such groups, uh, which groups are operating here. Speaker 5: 09:25 Well, the Southern poverty law center, um, like you said, highlighted, uh, seven different groups, mountain minute men, uh, the realist, uh, report mass resistance, um, American identity movement, which used to be identity Europa, uh, has been around as well. Um, and so those are some of the ones that have been identified, uh, by SPLC Speaker 4: 09:49 And does this ebb and flow over time? I'm, I'm reminded of, uh, of, uh, Tom Metzger who was, uh, who died recently. His obituary made natural national news. And of course he was a white supremacist out in East County and was operating for a long time. Uh, do you see this kind of ebb and flow over time? Speaker 5: 10:08 Yeah, they, they do, um, you know, sometimes groups change names like, like the, uh, American identity movement. Um, sometimes they change names, sometimes they merge with other groups, um, but they do sort of ebb and flow as far as their activity, uh, and the types of, um, recruitment efforts that they, that they take, uh, to try to get new members. Speaker 4: 10:30 Now, the group defend East County was in the news during the election season. And are there groups that you monitor and to kind of keep an eye on or, uh, and they don't really cross the line. It might get tricky there. It seems to me as a lay person. Speaker 5: 10:44 Yeah. So there are always groups that we pay attention to just because you're a member of, one of those groups doesn't mean that you're automatically every crime that you commit is going to be a hate crime. We still have to develop evidence that's tied to that specific person and what the motivation is for that person when they commit a crime. So just near membership, isn't enough. What we're really looking for are things that, that particular person, the suspect, um, you know, what they say, what they do, uh, the types of engagement that they personally have with those groups that, that indicate that they're bias, motivated, um, but mere membership by itself, you know, doesn't always mean that the crimes that are committed are hate crimes. Speaker 4: 11:23 And I wanted to bring up the political climate that the man I referenced earlier killed 22 people at the Walmart in El Paso last year, he was believed a posted a racist anti-immigrant screed before going to El Paso from his Dallas home to quote, kill Mexicans. And he was going to defend the country against an invasion. According to authorities that echoes president Trump's warning is of migrant caravans, uh, invading the U S ahead of the 2018 elections. How connected is the rise in hate crimes to polarized us when Speaker 5: 11:54 Things become normalized, or when we see things in the media, um, people tend to adopt those beliefs. And so, uh, while it may not be tied to our particular, you know, tweet or something that the president says, when more people hear that stuff and they repeat it themselves, it gains some sort of normalcy. And so for someone like Patrick Crucis, um, the El Paso shooter, if he's hearing things that are very anti-immigrant in the news, um, he's going to start believing that he's not alone in having those beliefs and, uh, start to be emboldened by, by those beliefs and move to action. Speaker 1: 12:32 For example, do we see a rise in hate crimes during the election? Speaker 5: 12:35 We do actually, that is one thing that we do see every four years, and it's mostly tied to presidential politics, presidential elections, and, you know, there's a whole bunch of different possible, possible explanations for why that, why that is politics does tend to be divisive on its own. But then when you have elections, especially national elections, where immigration comes up or, you know, things that really divide us as a country, uh, when they're at the center, uh, of, of debates and, and national discourse, it does give rise to especially race-based hate crimes. We see a spike in it every four years, and that's been true in 2016, 2012, 2008, 2004. And beyond Speaker 1: 13:20 Speaking with Lennar Trena, San Diego County prosecutor, dealing with hate crimes. Thanks very much for joining us today. Speaker 5: 13:25 No problem. Thank you for having me. Speaker 1: 13:38 This is KPBS mid day edition. I'm Maureen, Kevin [inaudible] with Mark Sauer. The San Diego VA is making access to mental health care harder for local veterans. During the COVID 19 pandemic therapists say the agency's actions are dangerous and irresponsible investigative reporter Brad Racino with KPBS partner. I knew source has the details. Speaker 6: 14:07 That's the humming of Wendy Belding. She's a San Diego therapist who specializes in helping PTSD and sexual abuse survivors. That's because the San Diego VA doesn't have the resources to treat all the vets. It cares for. The arrangement has been around for years and building is one of many providers in the County, but recently the LA Jolla therapist has had a hard time getting the VA to continue authorizing mental health treatments for her patients. Belding has heard the agencies on hold music so often she can hum it from memory. Now it's like a 45 minute wait on hold saying how much they care veterans and how much, Speaker 7: 14:52 You know, their concern is about veteran suicide. And you're waiting and waiting. Speaker 6: 14:57 I have clinicians told, I knew source that without much warning or explanation, the VA has started making it more difficult for veterans to get the okay to go outside the system for mental health care and with the coronavirus pandemic growing worse, Belding says now is not the time for the system to falter. Speaker 7: 15:15 I'm concerned that this is like the perfect storm Speaker 6: 15:18 Suicide rates among military personnel reached an all time high last year. But recent reports suggest COVID-19 may be making things worse. Army officials reported a 30% increase in suicides among active duty soldiers during the first six months of the pandemic. Speaker 7: 15:36 It's frankly frightening. What's going to happen to veterans. Speaker 6: 15:41 I was interviewed for this story told, I knew source, at least three veterans have taken their lives over the VA's actions. One was a patient of San Diego psychotherapist, Devin price. Speaker 7: 15:52 She was told, no, you can't have any more sessions. Speaker 6: 15:55 I says, the VA denied the woman further treatments in December in April, the veteran took her life. Speaker 7: 16:01 I sent in a report, the after action report and no one contacted me nothing. So she's just gone. She doesn't live anymore. And that's it. No, they never checked in with me about anything. Nobody, Speaker 6: 16:11 Some cases treatment stopped before eventually getting VA approval in others. Veterans and therapists said they'd been waiting weeks or months for authorizations. Several therapists are continuing to treat patients with no guarantee of payment by the VA because they can't bring themselves to stop helping the vets building is one of them. Speaker 7: 16:30 That's. If one of my clients commit suicide and I made the choice to not take care of, um, I'm not willing to live with that. Speaker 6: 16:41 We sent the San Diego VA a list of questions about the mental health care cuts. A spokesperson wouldn't answer any of them. Instead. He asked for the names of the veterans and therapists interviewed for this investigation. One of those vets is April Cobelli. She's a 37 year old Navy veteran with a history of PTSD, depression, and sexual trauma. She says it's always been tough, getting good mental health care from the VA, but recently it's gotten worse. Speaker 8: 17:08 It's such a looming institution. It has so much red tape and different things that you don't understand Speaker 6: 17:16 After years of being bounced from one psychiatrist to another, within the VA system Cobra, Lee says she finally found stability with an outside provider, but now she's been waiting weeks to hear from the VA, whether she'll be able to continue those sessions. Speaker 8: 17:31 I think it gives you kind of like this like hopeless feeling, kind of where it's like, I keep having to push to get what they promised and it's exhausting. It's it's I know why a lot of people give up joining me is I knew Speaker 1: 17:50 Source reporter, Brad Racino and Brad, welcome to Speaker 6: 17:52 The show. Thanks for having me. Now you Speaker 1: 17:55 Say the practice of the VA contracting with outside mental health providers has been going on for years, but how long has this recent problem with access been going on? Speaker 6: 18:06 It appears to have started sometime in mid to late 2019. I first heard about the problem earlier this year, when I naively thought that it was related to just one clinic in LA Jolla, where veterans were being treated with ketamine. And at the time the doctor there told me he first started having issues with VA authorizations around the summer of 2019. Then when I started interviewing people for this story, I found out the problem was much more widespread and it appeared to have started for them a little bit later around December or so of last year. Speaker 1: 18:38 Now the San Diego VA did not answer any of the questions you put to them about this issue. What were the questions you asked them? Speaker 6: 18:46 Well, I sent them a list of nine questions. Some were very specific. Um, others were, were pretty general and actually linked to the questions in our stories. So readers can see them, but I basically just wanted to know what is going on here. Why are there problems with vets getting mental health care? Um, you know, what measures has the VA taken to prevent any kind of catastrophic outcomes or increased, uh, veteran suicide? And I asked them a couple more specifics about their independent contractor tri West and what was going on there just very, you know, very specific things that should not have been a problem to answer Speaker 1: 19:19 VA say anything about the delays these vets and therapists are encountered. Speaker 6: 19:24 Yeah, they said there was no delay that everything was, was fine. Um, they said that, uh, no patients are encountering clinically significant delays. And then they added that they are aware of issues moving from a prior contract provider to a new one, but that they service veterans as quickly as possible. Um, and again, that there's not an issue. Speaker 1: 19:45 Tell us about that change that prior contract provider, tri West, there seems to be from your story, something about that change that perhaps precipitated this. Speaker 6: 19:57 Yeah. Tri West has been around for years. They're are major healthcare company throughout the country and they manage, um, VA kind of contracts with these outside providers. They do it in California. They do it in a bunch of other States. They were actually awarded a $26 billion contract to do this last year for 13 different States. And they're supposed to be kind of like that middleman between the VA and these outside providers. They're also supposed to be a customer service contact point of contact for veterans having issues. And the therapist I interviewed told me that they actually enjoyed working with tri West in the past, but all of a sudden, you know, earlier this year, they just found out through the entire tri West staff in San Diego was let go with no explanation. They couldn't find these people. They couldn't talk to them again. And the VA ended up bringing what tri West was doing back in-house at the VA. So now they're handling what it appears that they had paid another company already do. And there's a whole bunch of confusion as to why is this going on? Why is this happening? Speaker 1: 20:52 There is no indication why the VA chose to remove trial. Speaker 6: 20:56 No, the only thing I've heard are rumors. I mean, the therapist I've talked to have some friends inside the VA and they have heard through the grapevine that it may have to do with budget cuts, that the VA may not have enough money to, um, be handling some of these things. So they're trying to take it in-house but that that's just rumors. I have not been able to figure out what is going on here. Because as I said before, the VA won't answer these questions. No, Speaker 1: 21:20 The therapist you spoke with whose patient committed suicide said there was no follow-up response from the VA after she submitted her after action report, what kind of follow-up should the VA have done? Speaker 6: 21:34 Well, you would think in a case like this, that the agency would want to know what went wrong here. Um, if a veteran dies and takes her own life in San Diego and they were under VA care, the VA should, should better understand what led to that. Why did this happen? What can we learn from it? What can we do better in the future to prevent this? And instead they did no such thing. And as we also reported in the story, this isn't the first time that a veteran has taken their life and the VA has made no effort at all to learn from the doctors providing for this veteran, what happened. So this isn't unique, right? Speaker 1: 22:09 Could this problem within the VA, which has apparently jeopardizing vets who need mental health support, especially during COVID, could it be caused by COVID? And by that, I mean, has the VA experienced perhaps an impact on staff and administration? Like many other hospitals, Speaker 6: 22:28 The VA has been impacted by COVID. Um, but the VA has been understaffed for a very long time and it actually in February, the agency released some data showing that it was short 44,000 healthcare professionals. This isn't the San Diego VA. This is all around the country. Um, so they're definitely short short-staffed. But as I mentioned earlier, these problems with authorizations started long before COVID ever came on the scene. So I, I don't believe that this is related to COVID really Speaker 1: 22:59 Are any local members of Congress aware of this problem of accessing mental health care at the San Diego VA. And if so, are they doing anything about it? Speaker 6: 23:09 I reached out to a representative Scott Peter's office last week and spoke to some of their staff. They said that they had not heard anything about this. They hadn't heard any complaints from any of their constituents about this. Um, they took some, some guesses as to what might be going on, but said, they're, you know, they're Manning the desk waiting to hear if, if there are any issues with this, but so far, no, no one has done anything about this. Speaker 1: 23:35 You mentioned a little earlier about, uh, people who are hearing this can read more about it. Where can they read your full report? Speaker 6: 23:42 They can read it. I knew source.org. Um, and they can also watch it tonight on KPBS TV. Speaker 1: 23:49 I've been speaking with investigative reporter, Brad Racino with KPBS partner, I news source. Brad, thank you so much. Speaker 6: 23:56 Thanks for having me morning. Speaker 1: 23:58 If you or someone you know, is considering suicide call the national suicide prevention hotline at +1 800-273-8255. Speaker 4: 24:13 In this month's election, California voters rejected prop 16, the ballot measure spearheaded by San Diego assembly woman, Shirley Webber. It would have reinstated affirmative action in public institutions and government contracts. That's despite polling this summer that showed most Californians think racial inequality is a major issue. Kaylene Carter, a member of the Cal matters student journalism network and a junior at Sacramento state spoke with a student leader about prop sixteens, failure, Speaker 9: 24:44 IO banjo. Co-chairs the pan African student association, a collaboration of black and Pan-African student groups across the university of California system. Banjo is a senior at UC Santa Cruz, where less than 5% of the student body is black. He says he and other students he's talked to, were confused by the outcome of prop 16 Speaker 6: 25:04 Folks were feeling very hurt by what we call a progressive state, not being able to pass a progressive bill that could actually lead the way for the rest of the nation. Speaker 9: 25:15 He also thinks that the measure suffered from misleading framing, Speaker 6: 25:20 Making it seem as if universities or other entities within California are going to be giving out free handouts. When in reality, it's just about measuring and bringing justice to the racial groups that have been disaffected by all discriminatory policies that have affected our communities for generations. Speaker 9: 25:41 When people don't step up to find solutions to equity gaps in higher ed students end up shouldering a lot of the effort, Ben, Joseph, Speaker 6: 25:49 The fact that we, as students have to do so much to address these histories of social inequities that other folks get paid hundreds of thousand dollars to do is kind of sad. Black students Speaker 9: 26:03 Are burnt out right now. Banjo says, and he thinks they should use the failure of prop 16 as a chance to step back and reassess how they can make the most impact in their communities. For banjo. This includes a black research grant he's helped develop with the pan African student association. The grant would pay black students to research how to better recruit and retain other students just like them. Speaker 6: 26:25 I do hope that this black research grant will serve as a model for how universities could respond to not just the failure of prop 16, but also to institutionalizing a black agenda for Speaker 10: 26:44 Their campuses and for their students who attend our campuses. We want universities to become competitive and we want universities to be incentivized, to want to be competitive when it comes to the resources that they offer to students of color Speaker 9: 27:01 To be implemented UC wide, but banjo and his peers are still waiting for funding approval from the university office of the president, Speaker 4: 27:13 Pro baseball, hockey and basketball have successfully done it. And now certain airlines and airports are creating bubbles for travelers. The idea is to allow you to travel and move freely about in the state or country, thanks to pre-flight Corona virus testing. Joining me to explain how it works and where it's being tried is Lori ARRA, Tani who writes about travel for the Washington post. Laurie, welcome to midday edition. Speaker 10: 27:36 Thank you for having me Mark through much Speaker 4: 27:38 Of the pandemic air travelers were required to quarantine upon arrival. If allowed to travel at all to many destinations, explain what's happening in the U S and around the world. Now with the advent of this travel bubble, how does it work? Speaker 10: 27:50 So now that there's wider availability of different kinds of tests that give more rapid results. A lot of countries are leaning on testing as a way to sort of pre-screen travelers that come in from other places in the us. This really kicked off in October. Um, Alaska had had a system in place where if you arrived in Alaska, from out of state, you could test. And if you tested negative, you could skip the 14 day quarantine, Hawaii, which has, you know, really depends on tourism, but has been shut off from much of this pandemic, decided in October that they would have a similar program in place. And so United American Hawaiian, Alaska airlines are among the airlines that sort of created these testing programs, where if you book a ticket on that airline to head to Hawaii, you can test beforehand. If your test results are negative, then you don't have to abide by the 14 day quarantine. Speaker 10: 28:47 It's becoming a popular alternative, um, health experts say, you know, it adds another layer to this concern about travel. They still encourage you to wash your hands, wear masks, social distance. I think one of the concerns about having testing in place is that people might think, Oh, I've tested negative. I'm fine. But they emphasize that it's not foolproof that, you know, the testing is only a point in time. And so even if you test negative on Tuesday, you're not necessarily guaranteed. So I think in Hawaii, in some instances, they may have folks that come from the mainland test twice on a lot of countries around the world are doing this about 120 requires some type of testing before you you'll be admitted to the country. Um, some of them will waive quarantine requirements. Others you'll still have to quarantine Speaker 4: 29:38 And who pays for the testing in most cases, it's the traveler, Speaker 10: 29:42 I suppose insurance might, but I don't know insurance would be inclined to pick up the tab. So in most cases, it's the traveler. Um, I think the tests range from 55 to $250, depending on where you're testing and what type of test you're taking. There are a few airports, LaGuardia airport and Oakland international up in Northern California are actually offering free coronavirus testing. So in that case, you don't have to pay for it. Speaker 4: 30:11 And what about air travel to Mexico? A lot of folks here, obviously, uh, so close to the border, go up and down to Mexico in normal times. What are the restrictions there? Speaker 10: 30:19 So Mexico is an interesting case and it has actually become one of the more popular destinations because there is no testing requirement. There is no quarantine requirement. It's interesting because there is an agreement in place between the us and Mexico that they're restricting on non-essential travel, but clearly looking at where airlines are flying and where the passengers are going. There are folks that are clearly going to Mexico, probably for leisure travel and probably not for business. Speaker 4: 30:50 There was restrictions on essential travel only to and from Mexico seem not to be being enforced. Speaker 10: 30:55 Yeah, it looks like that. Just looking, looking at the numbers, you know, airlines are being very choosy about where they had flights because they don't want to be flying empty planes. And Mexico is definitely one of the destinations that they're adding to. So even though there's this agreement, I think it's set to expire on the 21st. So I think that's this week. I don't know if it will be renewed, but non-essential travel is discouraged both to Mexico and to Canada, but clearly people are growing. Speaker 4: 31:22 And how badly has the domestic and international air travel industry been hit in the past 10 months or so by this pandemic, Speaker 10: 31:28 The airline industry has lost billions. And as you know, when the money from the cares act ran out at the end of September, tens of thousands of airline workers lost their jobs. There was a slight uptick in sort of the July, August, but now that we're sort of entering this third wave in the U S you're starting to see the passenger numbers go down. So domestic travel is down about 64% compared to this time last year and international travel has taken an even bigger hit it's down 70.4% compared to the same time. Last year, Thanksgiving will be interesting. The holiday period will be interesting. As you know, health officials are encouraging people to stay put, but we're seeing, I think the TSA and airports around the country are preparing for an uptick and past passengers. I don't know that there will be a huge number of people, but they're probably going to be more people traveling than really have been since this all started. Speaker 4: 32:26 What an airline and travel officials say about how well the travel bubble ideas working, how much can it help? The bottom line? Speaker 10: 32:33 Uh, the Hawaii travel has really given and you have to keep an introspective. The volumes are so low that even a slight uptick looks like a huge bump on the graph, but Hawaii opened up, I think October 15th and United airlines said that they saw their bookings almost double from the previous two weeks. And other airlines said something similar Alaska airlines, um, said that testing has proved really popular. About 85% of the people that are flying from Alaska to Hawaii are opting to test. And they said by, I think by mid October, all the testing appointments had been taken up through November. So you are seeing a slight bump in some areas. We may see a slight bump around this Thanksgiving time period. We'll have to see, but travel is still going to be down dramatically from what it, what it has been air travel. At least I don't. It looks as if there will be fewer people traveling by car, but it looks like if people are going to travel, most are opting to go by car Speaker 4: 33:33 Passengers, air passengers are taking to this. What about public health experts? How effective do they say pre-flight testing can be after all there are false negatives. Speaker 10: 33:43 Exactly. And that's one of the things they caution. You'll hear airlines talk about this multi-layered approach, right? They're doing enhanced, deep cleaning the flight attendants. Tell me the planes have never been cleaner than they are now. They're social distancing. You know, there are all these layers and testing is another layer that adds to sort of the hope that you won't either catch the virus or spread the virus, but it's not foolproof because as you know, testing is only a point in time. Um, so they still caution that people should social distance wear masks, wash your hands, all these things. I think public health, health experts would prefer to see people still quarantine, but testing. I think the, at least the aviation industry, the travel industry sees as maybe testing as a way to sort of strike a balance between, you know, reopening the economy and preventing the spread of the virus. Speaker 10: 34:37 But as with anything, they caution, even the centers for disease control and prevention, caution that any travel there is a risk, right? It's not just when you're on the airplane, you have to think of your journey, right? It's the full journey it's getting to the airport. It's passing through the airport. It's going through TSA security. I mean, that's one of the things about airports is it brings together a lot of people who aren't related don't know each other may not have spent time. So they really encourage people that if you really are going to travel and have to travel, just keep in mind, all these protocols that they've been emphasizing all through this pandemic. Speaker 4: 35:14 I've been speaking with Washington post travel reporter, Lori R Tawny. Thanks very much, Laurie. Speaker 10: 35:19 Thanks so much. Mark Speaker 4: 35:30 KPBS, midday edition. I'm Maureen Kavanaugh with Mark Sauer. Speaker 10: 35:35 The old globe theater has made its of dr. Speaker 1: 35:38 Seuss's. How the Grinch stole Christmas a holiday tradition. Now it's transforming the stage production into a made for radio musical KPBS arts reporter. Beth Armando speaks with James Vasquez. Who's been directing the musical for the past 18 years. Speaker 11: 35:55 James, you are directing this new version of the Grinch for broadcast for radio broadcast. Before we talk about that, I just want to ask you, what is your first memory of dr. Seuss is the grid. Speaker 12: 36:10 Oh gosh. I mean, I grew up reading dr. Seuss. So I think my first memory was probably at five or six years old and hearing, uh, having the book read to me, you know, and then of course the cartoon was on every year is on every year and that was a tradition in our house. So I grew up knowing the story, loving the story and knowing all about the who's, you know, so then growing up and getting to be a, who is a pretty spectacular thing. Speaker 11: 36:38 And what do you think it is about dr. Seuss that is so appealing across all ages and across time? Speaker 12: 36:47 Yeah, he, I mean, he's absolutely magic and I think the key to it is honestly imagination. He gives the permission to kick the door open, to imagine and see the world differently. And I think even as adults, we need that. We need those moments to see the ordinary that's around us in a new way and acknowledge the extraordinary in the ordinary. I also think his lessons, his simple, simple lessons in his stories are life lessons that never go away that we can always hear and be reminded of. Speaker 11: 37:23 The globe has made a tradition of serving up the Grinch every Christmas. Speaker 13: 37:29 I mean, one [inaudible] as a cactus, you're as charming as an eel, mr. Green, you're a bad banana with a greasy black, Speaker 11: 37:52 However COVID-19 has changed the usual plans as it has for many others. And what is the globe going to be doing now with the Grinch? Speaker 12: 38:01 The themes of the Grinch are kindness, inclusion, community, and tradition. So the thought that we would not be able to come back together as a community and tell this story and carry on this tradition was heartbreaking. So we had several meetings and we throw out several ideas of potential ways to visit Whoville and the safest. And the one that made most sense for our, our story was to do an audio plate version, which was really exciting to after 18 years, I put the show for 18 years, myself, and I know it inside and out and backwards and forwards, but to hear it just as audio, the story is fresh and brand new. And there are so many moments of this story that are ringing fresh and new to me this year, because we're forced to hear it Speaker 11: 38:54 Differently. So revisiting this for radio is really like mounting an entirely new production. So how did you go about producing this? Speaker 12: 39:06 Yeah, absolutely. It is, you know, it is a cast of all returning whos. So that's lovely because our process was really quick. We had, uh, eight days to record the show and we recorded everybody individually. Since regulations couldn't allow us to be together, we joke, but not that we recorded the Grinch 2020 in closets across America because the, uh, we had cast members in Hawaii. We had cast members in New York. We had cast members in the Midwest, depending on where they are, they're spending this time. They had microphones, we helped them pack their closets for pad, their spaces to soundproof, as best as possible. And one at a time we would go through their show and we would then take those tracks and lay them in one at a time to create this year's story. And what's really wonderful about it is, you know, there, there are so many beautiful visual moments that happen on stage that, you know, if you know the show as well as we do, but if you don't, you're not quite sure what might be happening. So that's been the fun challenge of telling the story this year is finding ways to continue to bring that to life just by hearing it without having those visuals. So I think that's really exciting and going to be fun for audiences to really just close their eyes and dive in and hear the fantastic story and all of it be there in a new way. Speaker 11: 40:37 Most radio dramas are dramas with dialogue, but this is also a musical. So how do you do that with everybody in separate rooms? Speaker 12: 40:49 Yeah, very carefully. And a lot. We would do it a minimum of two to three takes of every person for every song. And we would play him back on the spot to see how they lined up to make sure time was right and in between go back and give notes. Uh, Ellen man, the phenomenal music director in Whoville and I would in between takes, offer that direction. And then we'd roll tape again and do it again, you know, and then there's some editing magic that's happening. You know, you, you need a conductor. This show is such a choral piece that it's really specific vocal lines. So we had our associate Linden report, conductor cam videos. So every actor got a video of Linden with the music in their ear and they would press play on the video. They see Linden conduct and they would sing with music only in their ear. And we would pick up just their voice and then lay all that in later Speaker 11: 41:52 Started by talking about dr. Zeus and how so many of us read dr. Zeus or had it read to us, how is it going to be with this radio play? Is it kind of recreating that sense of having a bedtime story read to you Speaker 12: 42:07 Is, you know, it's funny you say that because the approach of going in was in the theater. We always say, you, you gotta hit the last row of the balcony. You know, you gotta make sure that that person is, is getting it as well as that person in the front row, in this particular case, everybody in our audiences in the front row. And so we really, we did talk about that being a bedtime story. And we talked about the approach to it, not taking the energy and the emotional way by any means, but really allowing it to feel like there were a bed of kids and you were at the foot of the bed. And we were telling the story to them in that moment. Speaker 11: 42:49 How is this story? And, you know, dr. Zeus's message playing out in 2020 for you. I mean, we're in a pandemic, we've had a really, you know, contentious election. So how has it playing for you this time? Speaker 12: 43:05 You know, dr. Seuss, he has a quote that I love love, love so much. Welcome Christmas, bring your cheer, welcome all whose foreign near welcome Christmas. Here we stand heart to heart and hand in hand. And I, I feel like it sums it up so perfectly. We can't be hand in hand this year, but we can be heart to heart. And if there's anything we learned from Whoville is you can't steal Christmas. You're not going to steal it from us. And, and we're, we're going to share this story. And if there's ever a time that families should gather together and sit and just listen and be kind and be inclusive and, and talk about truth and family, this is it. Um, and I hope we can do that. I hope we can share a little bit of that. Speaker 11: 43:52 Well, that seems a perfect note to end on. So thank you very much. Oh, my pleasure. Speaker 1: 43:59 That was Beth Armando speaking with director James Vasquez, the Globes dr. Seuss's, how the Grinch stole Christmas on the radio can be heard for free on KPBS radio and can be streamed live on the KPBS website, the KPBS app, and on smart speakers. That will be four performances with the first on Thanksgiving day. Speaker 11: 44:20 Right?