The Navy takes on COVID
Good Morning, I’m Annica Colbert….it’s Wednesday, January 26th>>>>
How the navy is handling covid long term
More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….######
San Diego county public health officials reported more than 6,000 new covid-19 cases and 18 additional deaths related to the virus on tuesday. The number of hospitalizations decreased by 9 people, according to the county health and human services agency. The county’s seven-day average positivity test rate is 26.6%.
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Meanwhile, covid relief money is now available for california homeowners.. Senator Alex Padilla says residents can now apply for the california mortgage relief program.. It aims to help as many as 40-thousand households.
“this program will bring 1 billion to californians who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments because of financial hardship caused by the pandemic.”
Qualified homeowners need to prove they’ve suffered a pandemic hardship, and that they are at or below their county’s median income. For a single household in san diego that’s $84,850 dollars and for a family of four would be 121-thousand dollars or less. for more info go to c-a-mortgage-relief dot org.
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If you’re traveling on public transit these days, you might see some new Private security officers. The first officers with "Inter-Con Security" began on San Diego's Metropolitan Transit System on New Year's Day.. providing security services on trolleys, buses and M-T-S properties. The transit system's board of directors approved a 66-million dollar contract with Inter-Con in July. The contract is for three years with an option to extend two more years.
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From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
The Navy is trying to manage this latest phase of the pandemic. Steve Walsh with KPBS in San Diego says it comes after two years of hard-learned lessons.
In the opening months of the pandemic, the Navy was caught off guard. In April 2020, it was forced to sideline the USS Roosevelt in Guam to stop a quickly spreading COVID-19 outbreak that infected over a third of the sailors. The head of the Navy, Adml. Michael Gilday, scrambled to get the situation under control.
“Our goal is to get a clean ship, right…So have people ashore who are isolated people who tested positive. We have others in quarantine, isolated.”
One sailor on the carrier died. The commander was relieved - and the situation became a case study on how NOT to handle COVID-19.
“The Roosevelt was made much worse largely by self inflicted wounds by the Navy so that needs to change.”Brad Manning/Researcher Rand CorporationBrad Manning is a retired Navy captain who's now a researcher with Rand Corporation. He says the Navy underestimated the risk of COVID and was slow to react.
“They were befuddled because they were getting a lot of conflicted guidance. They were befuddled because the medical chain of command was telling people one thing, the operational chain of command was telling him something else.”
Fast forward to early January. The USS Lincoln was about to depart from San Diego. Sailors are required to wear masks now. The whole crew is vaccinated. Many had boosters. With the carrier as a backdrop, the head of the strike group, Rear Adm. J.T. Anderson assured reporters the Navy now has its act together.8:38“Quite frankly, we’ve learned a lot over the course of the last couple of years. We feel we are in a good place because we are highly vaccinated.”
But the Navy has eased up on some of the restrictions that were put in place after the Roosevelt outbreak. Gone are the two weeks of isolation prior to boarding ships. And the admiral announced that the crew of 3,000 included sailors with active COVID cases.3:01“We do have some positive cases within the carrier strike group, but again we’re extremely confident that we can safely and effectively execute our mission.”
The Navy has a 98 percent vaccination rate, but thousands of sailors have applied for exemptions. So far the Navy hasn’t granted any religious exemptions, though a federal judge has blocked the Navy from taking action against 35 SEALs who are suing on religious grounds.
Meanwhile for the first time in at least a decade, the Marines did recently grant a handful, without listing a reason.Vice Adml. Roy Kitchener is in charge of Naval Surface Forces in the Pacific
“The way we deal with it now is more of an endemic than a pandemic. For me personally, I think it’s going to be with us for the next few years, maybe forever. I don’t know.”Kitchener says no one will deploy without being vaccinated. Ships are doing contact tracing on board. And mirroring the Center For Disease Control guidelines, sick sailors are spending five days in isolation, instead of 10.“There is no magic to getting them out quicker. There’s just more tools to manage it. That’s really the key thing we look at. Do we have enough people that can operate that ship safely?”
Manning says the Navy has made progress keeping sailors healthy. Still, he says a lot of effort went into keeping ships at sea. Maybe, he says, a better answer was keeping ships home - rather than sending them on non-essential missions.
The Navy needs to think seriously about what's really a definite must do deployment and what's something that can wait…creating all sorts of havoc to meet a commitment may not be necessary.”
And he says the Navy still has trouble anticipating the crisis, instead of learning from its failures.
Steve Walsh, KPBS News
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Baja California has announced an official investigation into the murders of two journalists in Tijuana in less than a week. KPBS reporter Kitty Alvarado has more.
Vamos a usar toda la fuerza del estado para garantizar que la justicia prevalezca
THE GOVERNOR OF BAJA CALIFORNIA MARINA PILAR DE AVILA TOOK TO SOCIAL MEDIA TO CONDEMN THE MURDERS OF LOURDES MALDONADO AND MARGARITO MARTINEZL SAYING SHE WILL USE THE FULL POWER OF HER STATE TO GUARANTEE THAT JUSTICE PREVAILS.
WITH THAT END A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR WILL BE ASSIGNED TO INVESTIGATE THEIR MURDERS.
MALDONADO AND MARTINEZ WERE BOTH SHOT OUTSIDE OF THEIR HOMES.
THE COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS REPORTS THAT SINCE 2018, 32 REPORTERS HAVE BEEN KILLED AND 15 ARE MISSING.
The situation is grave it’s part of the ongoing cycle of insecurity in Mexico
DR JOHN SULLIVAN IS AN EXPERT IN SECURITY AND ORGANIZED CRIME IN MEXICO. HE SAYS THESE MURDERS ARE CONCERNING.
this year in Mexico there have been three murders of journalists or journalists and media workers together. Last year for the entire year there was seven, so we have an incredibly bloody month.
SULIVAN SAYS THE APPOINTMENT OF A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR IS A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION … BECAUSE 95 PERCENT OF THOSE MURDERS HAVE GONE UNSOLVED.
I don’t think it will hurt, every time the state goes to shine the light of truth and corruption it helps limits crime and corruption
SULLIVAN ADDS THAT THIS MAY ALSO TRIGGER MORE VIOLENCE.
Will there be a violent flashback that’s certainly possible, does it put her at risk, that’s also possible, but to allow the situation to continue without intervention would be perilous for the Mexican State.
KITTY ALVARADO KPBS NEWS
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Some business owners along Chula Vista’s Third Avenue say they're seeing more drunken behavior and crime over the past couple of years. KPBS Speak City Heights reporter Jacob Aere says a newly formed group is looking for solutions.
A new group of South Bay business owners and regional leaders met for the second time in three months on Monday…Their goal: find solutions to what they say are growing safety problems along the Third Avenue business corridor in Chula Vista.
Chula Vista Brewing’s Tim Parker says there have been more instances of broken windows, vandalism, and public intoxication over recent years.
He’s had his storefront smashed multiple times.
Tim Parker | Chula Vista Brewing Owner
“You definitely need a bigger police presence, where I think they need to be there more not just after we call, but there already to make the people uncomfortable to be on that block that shouldn’t be on the block.”
Parker says some local businesses need to do a better job patrolling what’s happening in and around their establishments.
He also said some of the issues in the area stem from the growing homeless population, especially at night time.
Tim Parker | Chula Vista Brewing Owner
“I’ve been noticing myself a lot more drug dealers have come to the block, but if you saturate the neighborhood with a bunch of homeless, of course a lot of times they’re probably there because of the drugs. So sadly a drug dealer will probably go to where they're at to sell the drugs.”
Vogue Tavern owner Gonzalo Quintero says he sees the homeless population as less of a problem, but agrees that more security will help the busy corridor.
In fact, he’s on a committee with the Third Avenue Village Association that will be focusing on new safety programs beginning this spring.
Gonzalo Quintero | Vogue Tavern Owner
“We're looking in the future at providing … closed circuit television to have an eye in the sky, to help people patrol. We’re looking on the weekends and in the evening at having private security.”
Quintero says part of the plan could even include a new police substation nearby.
The Chula Vista Police Department encourages members of the public to call and report crimes as they say it will help them address the problem and assign more resources to the area. Jacob Aere, KPBS News.
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Coming up.... Historically doctors have been opposed to creating a single payer system in the U.S.
“There's this fear that if there is a universal public insurance plan, that doctors are going to get paid less.”
Legislation to create single payer health care in California soon faces a major hurdle. More on that next, just after the break.
Legislation that would help create a single-payer, government run health plan in California will face a key hurdle in the next week. The bill must pass the full Assembly floor by January 31st or it’s dead. The effort is being led by the state’s nurses union. But on the other side, the state’s largest association of doctors is opposed.
In all previous attempts to create a single-payer system in the US, the fiercest objections have always come from doctors.
Dr. Micah Johnson, the co-author of the book Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide, spoke with The California Report's April Dembosky about the history of the single payer effort.
That was Dr. Micah Johnson speaking with the California Report's April Dembosky.
That’s it for the podcast today. Be sure to catch KPBS Midday Edition At Noon on KPBS radio, or check out the Midday podcast. You can also watch KPBS Evening Edition at 5 O’clock on KPBS Television, and as always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. I’m Annica Colbert. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
