Flu Still Bigger Threat Than Coronavirus, County District 2 On Cusp Of Change And What’s Happening This Weekend

Speaker 1: 00:00 The world health organization has declared the Corona virus outbreak a global emergency. The virus has spread to 19 countries, including the United States, but China, where the Corona virus originated has been the most impacted. Over 9,000 people in China had become an effected and 213 people have died from the Corona virus here in the United States. There have been six confirmed cases. KPBS science and technology reporter Shalina Chatwani spoke with local scientists about the outbreak and joins me now. Shelina welcome. Hey, good to be here. Of the six people in the United States who have been diagnosed with Corona virus, did they all contract it when traveling in China? So five of the cases, um, happen when people travel to China. But yesterday it was announced by the CDC that we had the first patient to patient case. So it was the spouse of the woman who had traveled to China and was, um, who had contracted the Corona virus. Speaker 1: 01:00 Uh, the closest case in our areas in orange County. But for a while there was a, uh, a possibility of a case here in San Diego County. Talked to us about that. Yeah. So this has been something that has been kind of bubbling up since last weekend, concern of our San Diego patient. But last night actually it was just revealed that a test from the CDC came back negative for this patient. Um, the patient does not have the Corona virus. Um, but there was a lot of attention around that bubbling up in San Diego County. Uh, and you were on a call Wednesday with the centers for disease control. Are they expecting more people in the U S to be diagnosed? Yeah, so the way the official from the CDC explained it, she said that the situation is pretty much under control. The risk to the American public for spread of the disease is pretty low. But she does expect that there will probably be more cases because of patient to patient contact. You know, now officials are investigating where that person went. So you know, there can be the, she says it's likely that there will be probably more cases Speaker 2: 02:04 we expect to see additional cases in the United States. You think those could be in travelers returning from the province. But we also think that it's likely that we may have cases amongst close contacts of patients who had returned. Speaker 1: 02:17 Hmm. So, you know, what do we really know about Corona virus? Yeah, I think this is a really important question in the discussion about, um, how dangerous this virus actually is. So Corona virus is part of a family of, uh, viruses, Corona viruses, uh, an overarching term for a number of different viruses that can cause things like the common cold. So some of them exist in humans, some exist in animals only, um, some getting existed in both. And in this particular case, this novel Corona virus originated in animals. And that's why it's so new to us and we don't have a vaccine for it yet. Um, but I spoke with, uh, an official from UC San Diego health yesterday. And what she explained is that actually when you look at the mortality rates with Corona virus versus something like the flu this season, it's actually relatively low. Speaker 1: 03:09 This season in the United States, we've had about 8,000 deaths from the flu. Um, and among 9,000 cases of people getting the Corona virus, only around 200 have actually passed away. So if you compare the numbers, it's actually not as severe as we're making it out to be. So what are some of the specific symptoms in incubation for Corona virus? So the symptoms are very similar to the cold and the flu and that's what makes it such a difficult situation in terms of people understanding when they're at the point where they need to actually get in contact with a health official. Um, but the, the key about this one is that this is a respiratory illness, so it's like a very deep, uh, cough. And they also, the other key here is if you have traveled to China and you are experiencing these symptoms, that's when health officials say you should probably be contacting someone. Speaker 1: 04:11 But if you're experiencing cold symptoms, you should be following normal guidances for the flu. For example, contact a doctor, make sure that you're following common practices, like washing your hands, staying away from people and not getting them sick. But yeah, so in terms of how much people can contract it or how dangerous it is, it's, it's hard really to tell in terms of the incubation period because there's, there's data that's still coming out. It's a novel virus. And so officials are still trying to figure out what this is all about. Wow. And there are 201 and one people being monitored at the March air reserve base in Riverside County after they were evacuated from muon China. Uh, what do we know about that? So these are folks like American diplomats that are abroad in areas that, um, such as China or other areas that, uh, appeared to have had, um, cases, uh, outbreak cases. Speaker 1: 05:05 And so, um, they were flown in to the air force base and we know that they are, have been asked to stay there for about three days and to go through the same number of health screenings at the centers for disease control have sent out to all of the ports of entry around the United States. Um, so they'll be screened, but it was in new recent news. There was one person that I believe did try to leave but was asked to stay and was put under a quarantine period for I believe, about 14 days, which is what people are saying is the incubation period is, but again, there's, there's no clear evidence that that's actually the incubation period. Is it clear on how long they can expect to be under quarantine at the base? So right now, I believe it's just the one person who's under quarantine. The other people have been asked if they would stay. It's sort of a voluntary decision. Oh. So what it sounds like is that the health officials for the folks that are coming in will be making the decisions about whether they can leave at a particular time. Because again, three days was the minimal time that they were asked to stay there. But we don't really know what the incubation period is or when it's safe to leave. I've been speaking to Shalina chat, Mani KPBS science and technology reporter Sherlyna thank you so much. Thanks. Speaker 3: 06:24 [inaudible]. Speaker 1: 00:00 After 28 years under the leadership of Diane Jacob San Diego counties. District two is about to see some change. KPBS is my, a triple C gives us a look at who is contending for a coveted seat on the County board of supervisors. Speaker 2: 00:15 District two is the largest district in San Diego County sprawled across 2000 square miles from the Southern border to as far North as Julian from the Imperial County border too, as far West as San Diego state. Since 1992 it's been represented by incumbent supervisor, Diane Jacob. But term limits mean she's on her way out. And after serving such a long tenure, Jacob won't go without throwing her weight behind her pick for successor. Speaker 3: 00:45 Diane Jacob has about a half a million dollars left in her campaign account. Uh, she's made it very clear in the media, uh, that she will spend every dime of that to make sure that I'm elected. Speaker 2: 00:55 Jacob has passionately endorsed Steve Voss, who is currently serving his second term as mayor of the city of Poway and is chairman of the San Diego association of governments. Vos hasn't had a long history and politics and the Grammy award winning singer songwriter who's usually seen in public wearing a cowboy hat may seem like an unlikely politician, but he says his experience in local government uniquely qualifies him to be what he calls the mayor of East County. Speaker 3: 01:24 But I've got a track record of getting things done. And you know, I think a city that's generally considered to be the envy of every other jurisdiction and the County. Uh, and I think that's because we focus on the important stuff. We don't chase shiny objects. We get things done and we take care of our friends and neighbors. Speaker 2: 01:42 Voss says his priority is to keep his constituents safe from crime and fire, but also to improve housing. He drew criticism in December when power ways water became contaminated by rain runoff, rendering it undrinkable for almost a week. Voss says that helped his candidacy rather than hurt it Speaker 3: 02:01 because folks saw mayor who stepped up, took care of business. But within 12 to 18 hours we had water available, handed out thousands and thousands of cases of water and folks saw their mayor out on the front line. Speaker 2: 02:15 Another Republican candidate in the race is former state Senator Joel Anderson who has been officially endorsed by the Republican party of San Diego. He is also a former president on the board of the Padre dam water district and a starch adversary of Vos. During the Poway boil water advisory, Anderson accused Vos of turning the city in the country into a third world country. KPBS reached out to Anderson for an interview about the race, but he was unavailable in the hopes of flipping the district seat in 2020 the democratic party of San Diego has endorsed Rancho San Diego resident Kenya Taylor for the board of supervisors. Taylor has a background as a licensed marriage and family therapist and is executive committee member of the NAACP San Diego branch. I'm the only candidate who has the expertise to manage the mental health crisis that we are seeing in our County and unfortunately this is the worst. Speaker 2: 03:12 I've seen it in my lifetime. Taylor says she wants to make sure jails are not being used as the largest mental health program in the County. Among her other priorities, Taylor wants to focus on supporting small businesses, environmental issues like clean air and food. She says the large geographic size of district two means governing requires a one size does not fit all approach. That 22 year old student who's living in their car has a different need than the 84 year old person who has a home that they retired in. She says she has donated over 10,000 hours for volunteer work and tries to imagine what she could do with a real budget to support those who want to improve their lives. Not to mention this would be the first time for us to make history. We've never had a woman of color ever and all of the districts, but that's not why I'm running. I'm running to make sure that we're safe in our areas. Another contender for the seat is longtime Lakeside resident cattle rancher and general contractor Brian Susko. He is a registered independent. He is relying on word of mouth of friends, neighbors, and social media for promotion. My [inaudible] C K PBS news. Speaker 1: 00:00 It's super bowl weekend and for our weekend preview, here are some art events to do instead from indie rock at the belly up, finding hope in the youth to a cross border artists. Plus we've also got the details on San Diego museum month. Joining me is KPBS arts editor, Julia Dixon Evans. Julia, welcome. Hi Jane. Born and raised in Tijuana. Griselda Rosis has worked on display right now at Lux art Institute with more shows on the way in February. Tell us about her work. So she does a lot of mixed media using brightly colored embroidery threads, stitched across her paintings and collages and she's also a sculptor. When I visited her studio this week, she was putting the finishing touches on these giant cement maps in the shape of two Mexican States and also California. A lot of her work gets suspended from giant rope systems that she builds. She definitely has a recognizable style, but it's all vivid and unexpected. Speaker 1: 01:00 Um, how does she incorporate the border into her work? The work she does is incredibly informed by place and these obvious ways like those maps, but she also uses some post-colonial imagery. And the way she sources her materials is really important to her too. She'll get her materials in Tijuana and bring them to San Diego, to her studio to work stuff like thread salts to grow her own crystals for sculpture and vintage placemats. All of these little migrations of objects and of her art. And where can we see her work this month? Well, she has four shows this month alone. Uh, her works currently on display at Lex art Institute and Encinitas plus. She's part of a group show starting at San Diego art Institute next weekend and another one at city college gallery also opening next weekend. And then starting on the 15th. She'll show work at Oceanside, museum of art with the ocean side libraries. Speaker 1: 01:53 Big read program. It's work inspired by Louis sub Barta [inaudible] novel into the beautiful North. And that's what those giant summit maps are for. Wow. You can see pictures and learn more about rossos work@kpbs.org also Canadian indie rock band. Wolf parade performs at the belly up tonight with a brand new album. Tell us about them. So we'll parade formed in 2003 most people discover them when they release their incredible first album. Apologies to the queen Mary and that was in 2005. I didn't discover them though then. I think I was living under a rock in 2005 but it was such a golden age of Indian music. Um, I came to Wolf, prayed by way of singer Spencer, Craig's other projects, moon face. His side project is really raw and orchestral. His song writing's poetic and really specific, kind of like you're reading his diary out of control is a Spencer Krug contribution on Wolf parade's new album, thin mind. Let's take a listen to that. [inaudible] Speaker 1: 03:19 Craig plays keyboard and sings about half of the songs in Wolf parade. Dan Buckner, who is also in divine fits with [inaudible], which is a project with the lead singer of spoon. He's the other vocalist and songwriter and they sort of trade off songs. I love that the having distinct voices and styles in a band, but they still put out a really unified album. My, I hear the influence of David Bowie in there. This album was just released last week. How does it compare to their earlier work? Yeah, I've seen some critics say things like Wolf parade may never measure up to their first album, but everything they've done in the 15 years since has felt thoughtful and really fresh to me. We'll parade performs tonight at belly up with land of talk. The 35th annual plays by young writers festival is on Saturday. Who are these emerging playwrights? Well, the playwrights project runs the competition each year among high school students and recent graduates. Speaker 1: 04:20 Looking at full script submissions this year, there four winners, three having their scripts turned into full productions and one younger writer and 11 year old will have a stage reading of that play. How were these scripts selected? Well, there are hundreds of submissions, like over 500 from all over California. One of the judges was play right, Lauren [inaudible] who won the contest herself when she was a teen. She's now one of the most produced playwrights in the country. What kinds of plays can we look forward to? The three selections are all from San Diego youth and they're all pretty diverse. One's a dystopian love story where love is considered treason. It's set in a distant future of 2021 and this was written by a 15 year old Aiko Lasar from Carlsbad and another play. His 16 year old is he stares like father like daughter, which is a string of conversations between a father and a daughter over coffee sort of quietly chronicling the passage of time into adulthood through dialogue. Speaker 1: 05:18 The plays by young writers festival takes place at the Joan B Kroc theater on Saturday at 7:30 PM kicking off just in time to give us something a little more cultured to do on super bowl Sunday. Museum month begins February 1st tell us what's great about museum month. Well, museum month's, a project of the San Diego museum council and agency that supports and represents member institutions in their region. It's actually just one of a few of their main projects that focus on increasing access. Sure. Our museum month is a program that seems to work well for residents and tourists. How does it work? The way it works is you pick up a museum month pass at any library or when you stay at a Hilton hotel, and I think you can pick them up at a Macy's store too. You'll receive half price admission at more than 40 of the museums in the council. Wow. Museum month kicks off on Saturday and last all of February to stay on top of San Diego art scenes. Go to kpbs.org/newsletter to subscribe to the KPBS arts newsletter and find more arts events at kpbs.org/arts I've been speaking with KPBS arts editor, Julia Dixon, Evans. Julia, thanks so much. Thank you.