Mayor Directs All Vacant City Property To Help Expected COVID-19 Surge

Speaker 1: 00:00 San Diego mayor Kevin Wagner announced Wednesday that all available city properties can be used by health officials if or when they need the extra space to help deal with the expected surge of coven 19 cases. Speaker 2: 00:13 I'm doing this in anticipation and an expectation that our hospitals will need all of the help that our community can offer. Speaker 1: 00:22 The San Diego convention center is already being put to use the city property is now a temporary homeless shelter. On Wednesday morning officials started moving residents from existing shelters into the convention center space. Eventually the city plans on moving and people who are sleeping on the streets. All of this is an effort to stop a potential explosion of Corona virus cases among the vulnerable population. Speaker 3: 00:46 San Diego had now has access to a huge facility that can shelter many, many more people more efficiently than ever before. This is an opportunity to tackle the Corona virus and the homeless crisis. At the same time, Speaker 1: 01:01 the County health department says so far, three homeless people have tested positive for at 19 Speaker 1: 01:12 and in other local headlines. Governor Gavin Newsome on Wednesday said that schools likely will not reopen at all this school year due to the outbreak, San Diego unified and other school districts are getting ready to launch a more organized and official distance learning effort later this month and for high school seniors out there some relief. The university of California system announced Wednesday that it won't require students applying for admission for the next school year to submit S a T scores. It's also relaxing other admission requirements of mid the pandemic and the latest covet count San Diego County officials, Wednesday said five additional people died from Corona virus while another 115 tested positive that brings the counties total to 849 cases with 15 deaths. Officials are urging residents to continue staying at home and practicing social distancing, especially during the next month Speaker 2: 02:10 and for these San Diego ans we plead with you and we ask you that the month of April is the time in which we must all come together. We must all make an absolute unequivocal commitment that we will sold her our share of the left. Speaker 1: 02:29 I'm Kinsey Morlan and you're listening to San Diego news matters. It's Thursday, April 2nd. Stay with me for more of the local news you need. As the Corona virus spreads, the CDC warns that some populations are at higher risk of developing a much more severe case. I knew source reporter Racino spoke Speaker 2: 03:00 with people at one senior care facility to see how they're holding up. The CDC says people at high risk of developing coven 19 related complications include those with chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma, diabetics, people with serious heart conditions or severe obesity. And those with compromised immune systems also people 65 and up. That's because the human body's immune systems weaken with age, which makes it harder for seniors to fight off infectious disease. Speaker 4: 03:29 Covert 19 has really, um, set everybody on the ear. Speaker 2: 03:34 Cheryl Wilson is the CEO of st Paul's senior services, a nonprofit that is operated in San Diego County for 60 years. Speaker 4: 03:41 So when all of this started to break about three weeks ago. Prior to it really breaking in the United States, we all got together and realized what was going to happen and started putting our plans into place. Speaker 2: 03:53 St Paul's medical staff began monitoring residents for symptoms of the disease. Wilson said they also surveyed their stock of personal protective equipment, insured visitors, used hand sanitizer, and began offering meal delivery. As a result, the normally communal culture at st Paul's has changed drastically over the past month. Speaker 1: 04:12 Well, boring is the first word that Springs to mind. Speaker 2: 04:16 Sheila souls lives at st Paul's manner near Balbo park. She says she plays bridge, reads books and takes frequent walks during the day, but she misses the outings, group discussions and church services that have been Speaker 1: 04:28 canceled. But I have a lovely room on the ninth floor. I can see all the airplanes and all the ships in and out and I'm very grateful to be here. Speaker 2: 04:39 Data from South Korea, Spain, China, and Italy show the bulk of their Corona virus related fatalities were amongst seniors. The U S is no different. Current CDC data show that 80% of domestic coven 19 deaths occurred among adults 65 years and older Wilson says right now st Paul's is looking for volunteers to place calls or send emails to their residents simply to pass the time. Speaker 4: 05:03 Uh, volunteers who could write little happy notes, um, to people or even if they could email a little happy things every day, little things or you know, how are you doing Speaker 2: 05:14 aside from seniors? The other groups mentioned earlier are also at high risk. Dr. Eric McDonald is the county's medical director for epidemiology and immunization services. He said at a news conference that regardless of where people in these groups live, the message is the same. Speaker 4: 05:29 You are at risk. You should take extra precautions and be sure that you are very aware of your essential activities Speaker 2: 05:38 with KPBS has help. I knew source has created an interactive map showing where the highest concentrations of these populations are clustered in San Diego County. The map shows diabetes is prevalent throughout South County where large groups of people suffering from COPD and asthma are also located. High numbers of seniors are in Rancho Bernardo, Oceanside and the Hoya and heart disease is scattered throughout the County. You can use the map by going to, I knew source.org for KPBS. I'm I knew source reporter Brad Racino. Speaker 1: 06:10 I knew source is an independently funded nonprofit partner of KPBS Speaker 5: 06:17 [inaudible]. Speaker 1: 06:18 San Diegans are generally obeying the law and following orders to stay at home due to the outbreak. That's according to the San Diego police department. KPBS reporter Claire Treg is her, has an update on how police are enforcing the city's new rules. Speaker 6: 06:32 Police have not issued any citations for people violating stay at home orders including people using parks and beaches that are closed. There are also no reports of increased lawlessness. People speeding driving through red lights or otherwise. Driving recklessly says San Diego police spokesman, Lieutenant Sean tech Yuchi overall calls for service are down. Police have responded to calls, reporting, non-essential businesses are open. They've told store owners they need to close and the owners have listened. He says officers are working to enforce new rules while trying not to come down with the Corona virus. Two officers have tested positive so far. We also, uh, are supplying all of our officers who are working with an extra, we'll recall a kind of a go kit and in that kit it includes extra gloves. It also includes hand sanitizer. It includes safety goggles and it includes a [inaudible] mask. The police Academy is also closing down for at least two weeks. That means the 185 recruits who are scheduled to graduate. This may in August will be delayed. Claire Trigere, sir. Key PBS news. Speaker 1: 07:48 The Navy is responding to an outbreak of coronavirus cases on the USS Theodore Roosevelt. That's just a day after a desperate letter from the captain became public KPBS military reporter Steve Walsh has the story. Speaker 7: 08:02 Davey secretary Thomas madly says a thousand sailors have been removed and a total of 2,700 sailors will be placed ashore in Guam while the San Diego based carrier is being disinfected. He says the entire carrier can't be evacuated as the captain suggested Speaker 8: 08:18 this ship has weapons on it. It has munitions on it, it has expensive aircraft and it has a nuclear power plant. It requires a certain number of people on that ship to maintain the safety, uh, insecurity of the ship. Speaker 7: 08:28 Roughly a quarter of the 4,800 crew members have been tested so far. 93 sailors have tested positive after the ship left San Diego in January, it made port in Vietnam, which already showed signs of the virus, but the Navy hasn't found patient zero. Speaker 8: 08:45 Someone could have brought it with them, uh, from San Diego when the ship actually deployed. We just don't know. Speaker 7: 08:50 The Tiara is so far the only deployed Navy ship where sailors have tested positive, but Speaker 1: 08:56 testing kits are still being rushed to ships around the fleet. Steve Walsh KPBS news Speaker 9: 09:03 [inaudible] Speaker 1: 09:04 an ongoing lawsuit against the California department of corrections and rehabilitation has argued that the state's prisons are overcrowded and the prisoner population needs to be reduced. KPBS reported a Claire Traeger, sir says the coronavirus pandemic is giving new urgency to the suit Speaker 6: 09:19 lawyers for California prison. Inmates have filed additional motions asking that prisoners who would be released in the next year be freed immediately to prevent the spread of the virus. On Tuesday, the California department of corrections and rehabilitation announced it's letting out 3,500 inmates, but all of them were scheduled to be released in the next 60 days. Anyway, Alison Hardy, an attorney for prison law office, says just under half of the 122,000 California inmates live in dormitories. That house 10 to 100 people, people Speaker 1: 09:56 prison have no choice other than to live with no scores. Speaker 6: 10:01 As of 5:00 PM Tuesday, there were 25 California prison employees who had tested positive for coven, 19 and eight inmates, Claire Trigere, sir KPBS news, Speaker 1: 10:13 a hearing on the motion is scheduled for this Thursday afternoon before three federal judges Speaker 9: 10:20 [inaudible] Speaker 1: 10:20 so it is officially census time. It's the time when the government sets out to count. Every single living person in the U S officials have vowed to complete the count by this years and despite the coronavirus pandemic. By now, every person should have received a letter from the census Bureau with an invitation to participate. I know I got mine, but I will admit it. I have yet to do anything about it. Luckily though millions of people who don't procrastinate like me have responded already for more on how the count is going. KPBS midday edition host Jade Heinemann talked to Jeff, he knows the deputy regional census manager in LA. He explains why the census is so important and details how the census Bureau is weathering the pandemic storm. So first I have to ask about the Corona virus pandemic. Has the census Bureau made any changes to its protocols and procedures since Covin 19 yes. So the current situation [inaudible] Speaker 10: 11:16 is affecting the entire country and the entire world. And first and foremost, the health and safety of our staff and the public at large remains of the most utmost importance in everything that we do. So our leadership is the census Bureau is carefully monitoring the situation and we're following all of the current federal, state and local health authorities. People are still responding in great number and everyone can still respond online at 2020 census dot DACA over the phone by calling the number provided in the census and the patient and by paper through the mail. So as we continue to monitor the situation, we've adjusted our field operations in order to protect the health and safety of census employees and the public and ensure a complete and accurate count of all, all of our communities. Speaker 1: 12:05 Are you aware of any census worker testing positive for Corona virus? Speaker 10: 12:11 Yes, unfortunately we do have confirmed cases of employees who've been diagnosed with coven 19 and they're all in quarantine. Uh, none of them have come into contact with the public and again, they're all in quarantine. So th this current situation impacts us all and our hearts go out to those who are affected across the country. Speaker 1: 12:30 Remind us why the data is so important. What does it use for, you know, especially at a time like this when we're in a national emergency. Speaker 10: 12:39 Oh sure. So, uh, two, two things that, that, why the census is so important. It boils down to these two things. Power and money. So talking about power, census results determine each state's representation in the U S house of representatives and inform legislative district Foundry. So power of voting. The second part is money responses to the 2020 census shaped decisions about how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal, state and local funds are spent in all of our communities each year, including funding for local hospitals and emergency services. So when we're talking hundreds of billions of dollars every year, and this is only done once every 10 years, multiply that hundreds of billions by 10 and we're talking trillions of dollars over the, over the course, over the span of 10 years are distributed based on census count. So it's a really big deal. So when individuals in a community, when a community doesn't respond or their people choose not to respond and those communities are potentially under counted, they're also underfunded. They're, they're not, they may not receive the funds that they are entitled to. Speaker 1: 13:50 So in a situation like we're experiencing today where we're in a national emergency, if you've got an undercount in an area, uh, that area may not receive the federal dollars needed to address the emergency happening, correct? Speaker 10: 14:05 That's correct. That's why it's so important that we, we, we get everyone to respond and it starts with self response and, and getting people to respond online over the phone. Even though the old fashioned way, filling out the census form and mailing it in where we met, we're trying to make this as simple and easy as possible for individuals. And also say title 13 of the U S code protects the data, protects the information that people provide, Speaker 1: 14:34 counting everyone is crucial to getting federal dollars. What groups are at risk of not being counted and why? Speaker 10: 14:39 So generally the poppy, the populations that are, that are considered harder to count or are historically had been under counted are generally are minorities, uh, low-income renters. There's different variables that, that are, that are reviewed and, and shown to be the populations that are less likely to respond to the census. So the census Bureau has a national advertising campaign and it had a lot of focus, especially on the heartbeat count population. Speaker 1: 15:14 Hmm. You know, president Donald Trump tried to get a question about citizenship in the census but didn't succeed. Do you expect, uh, legal immigrants and people without documents will participate in? How are you making sure they do? Speaker 10: 15:27 So we want everyone to respond. Everyone living in the country as of April 1st, 2020 we want and needs to respond to the census, and it's actually required by law that responded to sentence. All the data is protected under title 13 of the U S code. It's not shared with that with immigration. It's not shared with the IRS. It's not shared with any federal, state, or local agency. It's not shared with any private or public company as well. Just all the individual census records are kept completely confidential. Speaker 1: 15:59 I've been speaking with Jeff, he knows deputy regional census manager at the LA regional census center. Jeff, thank you so much for joining us. Speaker 10: 16:07 Oh, thank you. Speaker 1: 16:08 Okay, fine. I will go fill out my census data right now to hear that full interview. By the way, subscribed to the KPBS Monday edition podcast, wherever you get your podcast, that's all for today. Thanks for listening. Stay safe. [inaudible].