Skip to main content
Global Edition
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Midmorning With Aundrea - May 12, 2020 (Part 1)

Credit: WCBI
Duration: 0 shares 1 views

Midmorning With Aundrea - May 12, 2020 (Part 1)
Midmorning With Aundrea - May 12, 2020 (Part 1)

(Part 1 of 2) In the fight against COVID-19, researchers are increasingly looking at contact tracing to measure the spread of the disease and to see who might contract it next.

However, many Americans are concerned about privacy issues.

And we have another installment of "As the Page Turns" with author BJ Hyman who gives us several book recommendations.

And with the world celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Victory in Europe Day that marked the downfall of the forces of fascism, we take a moment to honor the unsung heroes of that war, women who joined the military as WASPs.

Reas as more states work to re-open, knowing who áhasá the corona- virus is key.

And one way to do that is with contact tracing, which is about tracking down anyone who may have come into ácontactá with a person who has tested positive.

New york city, for example, says it plans to hire a áthousandá people to help with that effort by the end of the month.

Nationally, experts say it will take an áarmyá of people, asking the right questions.

Tony dekopil looks at how contact tracing works.

Melissa thomas: 13:47:55 hello, my name is melissa.

I'm calling on behalf of the new haven health department.

Every day& melissa thomas: 13:48:34 your covid- 19 test result was positive.

&people like melissa thomas are chasing some of america's newest cases of the coronavirus.

Melissa thomas: 13:49:29 do you remember when you first started experiencing feeling ill?

Their mission is to break the chain of infection& by developing a list of everyone who may have been significantly exposed to a patient& and then urging those close contacts to monitor symptoms and self- quarantine.

Melissa thomas: 14:00:04ish i'm really looking for any time from that wednesday until now if you've had prolonged contact with anyone outside of your house.

And while this call was only a demonstration... tony dokoupil: 14:00:35 my-- i had a colleague from work come over& &thomas says she can usually reach about 60-percent of the patients she tries& getting all the info she needs in less than 30 minutes.

Melissa thomas: 12:25:41 i think the hardest part is getting the people to answer the phone in the first place.

For those that we actually reach out and talk to, whether they answer the phone or call us back, they're very willing to help.

Contact tracing has helped control diseases like ebola and sars.

And as of now, it also seems to be working for the new haven department of public health in connecticut, where thomas is a volunteer.

Tony dokoupil: 12:46:19 so-- at your very best rate, as quickly as you can go, you're going through two calls per hour with people picking up?

Melissa thomas: 12:46:26 we're doing between two to three an hour, yes.

Tony dokoupil: 12:46:28 two to three an hour?

Is that quick enough to make the case count go down on the computer?

Melissa thomas: 12:46:33 so in new haven, we've averaged about 100 new cases a day.

And with our team, we're able to handle that rate.

But there's no federal requirement for contact tracing, leaving states and cities to create plans of their own.

Governor charlie baker: 15:08:25 i think it's important for us to come up with a strategy that says we're not just gonna try and mitigate the disaster; we're actually gonna try and contain the growth of the virus.

/// tony dokoupil: 15:09:07 this is an opportunity to go out, find the embers, and stomp 'em out before they become a wildfire?

Governor charlie baker: 15:409:14 exactly right.

Massachusetts governor charlie baker announced the first statewide contact tracing program last month.

It's grown into a thousand-person team&reaching hundreds of patients a day.

Governor charlie baker: 15:12:08 they're lookin' for help with respect to how they isolate.

And they're willing to give us their close contacts, which by the way, so far, have not been big numbers.

But those numbers are likely to spike as people return to work.

And to stay ahead of the pandemic ... america will need an additional 100,000 contact tracers, according to johns hopkins university.

By one count, states have hired or announced plans to hire about 66- thousand so far.

Tony dokoupil: 15:25:31 // does the lack of a federal standard put your state at risk and surrounding states at risk?

Governor charlie baker: 15:26:23 i certainly think if the feds-- were to participate, if the feds were to establish, as you say, national standards or-- or some rules around-- compatibility with respect to one state to another, 'cause you're right, there is a lot of back-and- forth between states, and people move.

I mean, they don't just work; they move.

I think that could be very helpful.

As more americans test positive for the virus, researchers say confidentiality is key for contact tracing.

That means shielding the identity of every covid-positive patient& even from the people they may have infected.

Tony dokoupil: 12:30:10ish contact tracing is critical.

Virtually nobody disagrees with that.

But out there in the public, there's a concern that the more that the government, even if it's the health department, is prying into people's lives and movements, the less privacy we'll have as americans.

How do you balance the public health mission with the privacy concerns of citizens?

/// melissa thomas: 12:32:11 i would say we take confidentiality very seriously.

That's a big-- component of what we do as far as not sharing information of who is a positive test result.

That is extremely important.

But also, by notifying people that they may have been exposed, it greatly reduces the spread of the disease.

So the more information people can provide, the better and the more effective that this technique will be.

Technology is also expected to play a big role in this effort.

Google and apple this month are expected to debut a tool, allowing people to receive an automatic alert if their phone has been near a covid- positive person.

But for many people, that brings up privacy concerns.

A recent poll found more than áhalfá of americans wouldn't use such an app.

A new list of books for your summer reading next on mid morning.

We we have an entirely new reading list this morning from local author bj hyman.

If you like a story that brings a chill to your spine, you will love today's edition of as the page turns.

Hi.

I'm author bj hyman, and we're going to talk about books.

Today, i'm going to talk about thrillers.

Thrillers can come in lots of different shapes and sizes and flavors and things.

All three of the books that i'm going to talk about today all have different fields.

The first one i'm going to talk to you about is bird box by josh malerman.

It's unique in that it's told in three different time periods.

It's told in the now, which is when the mother is trying to get to a safe place with her two children literally blindfolded against an unseen foe.

Another section is called the problem.

This is the beginning of the story.

This is our main character.

She finds out that she is pregnant, and she has to find a safe place because there is a creature out there that when people see this creature, they go insane.

They kill people before killing themselves.

The third section of the book, it's called after the birth.

She raises her children and prepares them for the life of living essentially blind.

It's tense from page one all the way to the very last page.

That's why i recommend this book.

The second book that i want to talk to you about is security by gina wohlsdorf.

Security is a very unique book.

It's all in one building called manderlay resort, and this is a place that it's about to open, and it's the most opulent place that you can think of with the highest level of security for those who can afford it.

But there's somebody out there that doesn't want this resort to actually open.

Little do the staff know that are preparing for the big open that someone is watching their every move and will over the next 12 hours kill all of them one by one.

This is a very unusual, very hitchcockian kind of story because you're watching from the sidelines, and it's not even chapter headings.

It's camera one, camera five, camera 12.

It is action.

It's suspense.

It's terror and it's a heartbreaking love story all in one.

This book, i've actually read it twice now because i liked it so much in the first place.

If you like something that will make you feel like you're sitting on the edge of your seat, like you're actually watching a film instead of reading a book, this is the book for you.

My next book is the woman in the window by a.

J.

Finn.

Now, this book is very hitchcockian.

I will tell you that because it's a woman that is a severe agoraphobic.

Every part of her existence is looking out the windows or looking through a computer.

Everything that she does, she has everything ordered in.

Her food comes to her.

Her wine comes to her, and her prescriptions come to her.

She never leaves this house.

It's the life of her inside this house watching outside her windows, but she's heavily medicated, and she drinks along with it, which makes her a very dangerous storyteller because you don't know what is real.

She doesn't know what is real.

The truth is very hard to come by with this book, which makes it a very tensed book all the way through.

You can buy my books on amazon.com.

You can find day zero series and also sleep tight.

Until next time, happy reading.

You can also encourage your reading all summer with your children.

Their buildings may be closed to little readers, but the children's librarians at the starkville and columbus-lowndes public libraries haven't forgotten their kids.

Our stephanie poole has more information how the programs are going high-tech to reach those budding bookworms..

Donut open- reading is such a fundamental part of every child's development.

That's why local libraries are connecting with students to make sure they don't fall behind.

Loraine walker is a childrens librarian for starkville public library.

She says her department has created a virtual reading program.

" so many thing are up in the air for the kids schools, just their regular things are not available and things are different.

I wanted to be a constant for them."

Walker says after each video, families can select literacy exercises,arts and crafts,and other activities based on the daily story.

" it's a fun thin that can keep them involved.

So every day when they do that they're involved with more than just watching something.

And they can interact with their library friends also."

Tori hopper with columbus-lowndes public library says their reading program follows a similar model, except they're using a website called "beanstack.

"they can just g ahead and do some activities that are educational depending on their age group.

Then we can log their reading minutes based on the badges that they earned.

And we'll be providing paper options for those who can't access the internet at home."

Hopper says participants can listen to stories and log the number of books they've read.

" it's an avenue fo them to keep reading and to keep exposing themselves to educational opportunities that they already been doing inside the safety of their own homes and away from large groups of people.

We're just trying to continue that opportunity for them in a new and inventive way."

And hopefully students will learn effectively using the virtual program.

" i'll do anythin for my kids.

Anything to make it fun for them and more fun for them to watch."

Donut close- hopper and walker says families can find activities for their children on their facebook page and library website.

Reporting in lowndes county, stephanie poole, wcbi news.

The beanstack website will launch in a few weeks, closer to june.

Some of those activities will offer free prizes for students.

When we come back, how one group of women changed world war mid morning will across the world, virtual celebrations continue marking the 75th anniversary of v-e day.

V-e day marked the surrender of nazi germany.

A new book celebrates some of the unsung heroes of america's world war two effort.

Jan crawford spoke to one of the women who helped break down barriers, by taking to the sky.

200504ówaspó u s army airforce out of those busses are stepping girls& more than eleven hundred women airforce service pilots - or wasps - flew for the u.s. military during world war two& right away the air force wants to get a little muscle on those pretty arms. transporting planes from the factory and helping with target practice so male pilots could fight overseas...at a time when they were viewed as anything but equal yes they talk army talk and they wear gi clothes // she's still the softer, fairer sex worried to death she's goign to get her hair wet... i decided i wanted to fly planes.

When i was eight years old ninety eight year old nell bright skipped meals to afford flying lessons...and was ultimately accepted into the seventh class of wasps it was a tough program.

And women had never flown military airplanes before.

/// you had the same training as the men.

You were treated like military officers, but you were considered civilians.

/// we were under military orders /// it was like we were military but technically we weren't... rather than allow them to join the military, the wasp experiment was disbanded before the end of the war...and largely forgotten for decades& we just said, okay, that's, that's a part of our life that is over because it was /// we didn't even think about that we were setting any records or doing anything extraordinary bright and the others left the sky behind... i got married and had two kids and nearly everybody got married, and had kids, it took more than thirty years and the help of prominent arizona senator barry goldwater to award the wasps veteran status& and another 30 years before they were awarded the congressional medal of honor for their service& they just wanted to be remembered for what they did.

Kate landdeck teaches history at texas woman's university, and in her new book "th women with silver wings," sh describes the adversity these women had to overcome both inside the military and out they fought and fought and fought, and just kept doing what need to be done.

And that's the message that i hope gets through is that perseverance, /// if you just sit back and let people tell you, no, you never you're never gonna get to take off into that blue sky out of the 1800 wasps who went through training, there are only 32 still living...but landdeck hopes her book will keep their legacy alive they were independant minded and they were stubborn.

/// they they wanted to fly those airplanes, and they wanted to serve their country and so they did both /// the all whole attitude.

Was it a girl don't fly, girls can't fly.

/// and and you prove them wrong.

Right, right.

It took nearly a lifetime for a new generation to recognize the wasps for their role in shaping history&and bright says she's still getting used to it the young female pilots in the air force now come up and say, all we couldn't have done this.

If you girls hadn't done this before how does that make you feel when you hear things like that.

It sounds shocking to me.

Finally, you think, what did i do you know?

//it takes a while for it to sink in.

But it makes us feel real proud too.

Still to come, a look at the life of entertainer little richard.

Mid

You might like

Related news coverage

Advertisement

More coverage