Coronavirus Contact Tracing Efforts Ramp Up
This week, the U.S. surpassed one million coronavirus cases and more than 63,000 people across the nation have died from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus. Also, six Bay Area counties — Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara — announced an extension of stay-at-home orders through the end of May, while relaxing restrictions on some businesses and outdoor activities. As testing efforts ramp up throughout the Bay Area, UCSF and the San Francisco Department of Public Health are enlisting dozens of trained volunteers to trace and contact new coronavirus infections, a critical step in containing disease outbreaks.
Guest:
- Dr. George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology, UCSF
Small Businesses Scramble for New Round of Federal Aid
This week, the Small Business Administration started accepting applications once again for the Paycheck Protection Program, created by Congress to serve as a lifeline for small businesses and nonprofits struggling to survive the economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The initial round of funding was depleted in less than two weeks when the program launched nearly a month ago. Last week, Congress approved an additional $310 billion in funding for the program, which enables eligible businesses and nonprofits to apply for low-interest, forgivable loans through banks to retain their workforce during the crisis. (Editor’s Note: KQED is among the local businesses and media organizations that have received a Paycheck Protection Program loan. This helps us continue to provide essential information and services to our audience during the COVID-19 pandemic.)
Guests:
- Avital Ungar, founder and owner, Avital Food Tours
- Randell Leach, CEO, Beneficial State Bank
Stanford Lab Engineers Low-cost, Scalable Equipment to Fight COVID-19
In just a few months, the fight against the pandemic has revealed an alarming truth: There aren’t enough masks, gowns and goggles for the army of health workers trying to save lives while avoiding infection themselves. So Manu Prakash, a bioengineer and 2016 MacArthur “genius grant” recipient, is engineering novel, quickly scalable solutions to this global problem. In his lab at Stanford University, off-the-shelf snorkel masks are transformed into protective equipment, with an air filter to keep out virus particles. Unlike traditional respirators, these “pneumasks'' can be reused for up to 28 days and easily disinfected with bleach. Nearly three thousand units have been deployed to clinicians and hospitals throughout the U.S., including the Bay Area, New York City and Miami. Prakash and his team also found inspiration in a cotton candy machine, hacking and retooling it to spin N95-grade face mask material quickly and cheaply, and are making ventilators with parts taken from automobiles and coffee makers.