Midmorning With Aundrea - August 6, 2020 (Part 1)

(Part 1 of 2) The pandemic is not just costing jobs, but also leaving millions of people without health coverage.

And author BJ Hyman recommends some books in today's "As the Page Turns".

And rock climbing is the latest craze among the visually impaired!

Birthday today.

A very specical midmorning starts right now.

The pandemic is not just costing jobs, but leaving millions of people without health coverage.

Nearly half of americans get their health insurance through work.

One study from families u-s-a finds an estimated five- point- four million american workers lost their health insurance from february to may.

Michelle miller met one man who lost his coverage when he needed it most.

What does it mean to lose your health insurance?

It means a lot, some days you want to go to the doctor and see what else is wrong with you but you can't.

When the pandemic hit, rodney watts was working as an overnight supervisor at atlanta's hartsfield-jackson international.

He lost his job, along with his health insurance.

I'm a type two diabetic.

You know, it has been real hard for me.

He's been paying for his insulin, which costs him about $400, with unemployment benefits.

He was recently hospitalized after feeling sick and discovering a lump on his chest.

How are you paying the bills?

It's been a struggle.

// we've been managing.

But, you know, when that 600 goes away, i don't know.

The kaiser family foundation, a non- profit that focuses on national health issues, estimates that about 27 million americans are at risk of losing coverage during the pandemic.

Larry levitt is the foundation's executive vice president of health policy.

It's never a good thing to lose your health insurance, but it's particularly risky in the midst of a pandemic.

The kaiser family foundation estimates that four out of five people who lost their employer health insurance are eligible for help through the affordable care act or medicaid, but many just don't know about it.

Levitt is concerned that without health insurance, people will avoid testing and treatment.

People who don't have health insurance hesitate to seek medical care, worrying about the big medical bills they may face.

As for rodney watts, i got to go find work.

I got to get my health coverage.

Because i got a lot of people depends on me.

I got a wife, i got grandkids.

I got kids.

And i can't fail them.

I can't fail them.

He says he's determined to get health insurance to keep his family safe.

Michelle miller, cbs news, atlanta.

Intro during this unprecedented time in our country, new research shows our social media habits are changing during this stressful time.

Michael george reports pkg andrea koder spends a few hours on social media every day&.but recently she's noticed a change in áwhatá she's seeing.

:52 a lot of fear and worry and skepticism and pessimism and that kind of thing.

Not a whole lot of hope and good stuff.

So i think there's just been a lot of animosity between people in the last few months with everything going on.

The pandemic, politics and race relations have increased tensions around the country.

Now a new survey from the ohio state university wexner medical center finds more than half of americans have changed their social media habits .

52 there's another shift of people doing what we call doom scrolling, like looking for the //worst stories out there and stories//2:00 it is the current social equivalent to watching a train wreck, you can't /// look away about 20% of people surveyed said they have taken social media breaks.

Dr. kenneth yeager says while you cannot control what is online, you can limit your exposure.

If you're feeling agitated, frustrated, stop, step away from social media, engage in activities outside, maybe with your children or family, maybe helping others in the community andrea says taking some time off from the screen has been good for her.

3:47 just to get myself into a better headspace and focus on things that are more reality based.

Like spending time in my yard or hanging out with my pets or people in my life.

I, i have to take a step back every so often and when a person feels ready to go back, it's best to set time limits , so you don't spend too much time on social media.

Michael george cbs news, new york.

Tag experts say if you are having trouble controlling your mood, feeling regular panic, or having trouble connecting with others, you should reach out to a mental health professional for help.

Intro the national institutes of health and u.s. drugmaker eli lilly are launching two clinical trials to test a new approach to treating the coronavirus.

It uses antibodies that are mass produced in a lab to try to stop the virus from damaging the body.

Coronavirus patients at certain u.s. hospitals can volunteer to enroll in the trials.

Cbs news chief medical correspondent dr. jon lapook explains why this is so significant.

?

It's basically taking what our own bodies are capable of doing to protect us and trying to offer that to somebody who has not yet mounted their own effective defense.

N-i-h director dr. francis collins is overseeing.

A treatment he hopes will block the coronavirus in infected patients using ámonoclonal antibodiesá.

?

Monoclonal antibodies sticks right to the part of this spike protein that represents the part that binds to the human cell and lets the virus get inside.

So you cover that up and the virus has nowhere to go.

So unlike plasma donated by survivors, which contains antibodies to coronavirus and other past infections - monoclonal antibodies target only the part of the virus that allows it to attack human cells.

And importantly - they can be ámass producedá in a lab.

If it turns out the clinical trial is successful, we can start immediately offering this to patients who are sick.

U-s biotech company regeneron is also developing its own doctor mezgebe berhe is running the lab- produced antibody treatment trial.

If i treat you now, can i prevent the possibility of progression and hospital admission?

Can i improve your recovery time?

And i also prevent transmission to other people.

Mary ellen gaffney and her husband michael senickare participating in a regeneron trials to see if monoclonal antibodies can prevent covid-19 in somebody exposed to the virus.

If we got the antibody and it did some good, at least we were in a position to take advantage of it.

Dr. jon lapook cbs news.

A trio of teenagers in new jersey saw the coronavirus as an opportunity-- to serve the senior citizens in their community.

Meg oliver has their story.

A trio of teenagers in new jersey saw the coronavirus as an opportunity-- to serve the senior citizens in their community.

Cbs's meg oliver has their story.

Nats: /shopping "this looks goo whole wheat?"

High school students michael mora, joe recto and keshav chhawccharia have spent a good portion of the pandemic grocery shopping for seniors.

Nats/check out no strangers to volunteering the trio started "project play" organization that donates old sports equipment to under- privileged kids.

Michael mora/students2the rescue "an obviously, project play was kind of limited right now.

And so we just want to help the community in a new way during the pandemic."

They started "students 2 th rescue" as a wa to help seniors with limited access to stores.

Keshav chhawccharia/stud ents2therescue "my aunt and m grandmother were both actually diagnosed with covid.

They both live in india.

And just hearing about their personal difficulties and how hard it was for them just to get the accurate medical care made me want to help whenever i can in my local community."

So far they have four chapters in new jersey.

Seniors fill out a form on their website and their groceries are delivered for free.

71-year-old wayne sheely is a diabetic with heart issues and only leaves the house for physical therapy.

Wayne sheely/ i think it's unbelievable that they've taken.

They're they're helping people who can't get things done, i mean, i'm lucky i have my wife with me, but there's some people that they're helping that have no one."

Meg "we're reall seeing the best in a lot of people.

Wayne "oh, yeah.

Throughout this pandemic.

Is that the silver ling?

Wayne "i think so.

Joe recto "other may call us selfless, but in my opinion, it's actually kind of a selfish thing because it makes you feel good about yourself and it makes you feel good to help others."

Simple acts of kindness during this time of adversity.

Meg oliver, cbs news, wharton, new jersey recommendations from a friend.

That's bj hyman with as the page turns mid morning if if you love to read like our friend author bj hyman, you are always looking for recommendations.

And, that's where we head today.

Bj shares books that others have suggested for her to read today on as the page turns.

Bj hyman: bj hyman here.

Today, i'm going to talk to you about some books that have been recommended to me by friends and some of my readers.

The first one is actually a series, it's the robert hunter series by chris carter.

Now apparently, having the name chris carter means that you're going to be a creative person.

Because this is not the chris carter that created the x files and millennium, but it's a creative chris carter nonetheless.

Try to say that three times really fast.

Lisa thomley recommended that i get into this thrilling serial killer series.

So i started at the beginning with the crucifix killer.

While i haven't quite finished this book, i am grateful to lisa for recommending it.

The thrills are all there.

The killer would rivals kevin spacey's serial killer in se7en for his ingenuity.

And all the characters are flawed and resonate with me.

Bj hyman: i find my heart actually racing while reading some of the more action packed sequences.

And you know that if you get a physical reaction from something that you're reading, it's good.

The second book i'm going to talk to you about is seventh heaven by alice hoffman.

Now this book was recommended to me by my sister, lee anne.

She knows that one of my favorite movies of all time is practical magic, but that was based on the book by alice hoffman.

This story is set in 1959 on this idyllic street in this town that everything is completely perfect from the view, but all the secrets are hidden behind their curtains.

But then a divorcee moves in on the street.

Her mere presence is scandalous, and it starts to open up those boxes of secrets for everyone.

As i read more by this author, i have found that i love the little bits of magic that she sprinkles throughout her stories.

Bj hyman: it adds the sense of nostalgia that just makes my heart sing.

The last book i'm going to talk to you about is a book called lying to children by alex shahla.

This book was recommended to me by ada lavin, and it's a series of letters from an unnamed father to his college aged children, trying to explain a lot of the white lies that he and their mother told them while they were growing up.

Some of the letters are poignant, but most of them are just laugh out funny.

They're just hilarious.

It reminds me a lot of erma bombeck, and also nora ephron.

One reviewer said, "this is wha results when dad jokes become a book, and it's not a bad thing."

So it' actually a very, very funny book.

As always, you can find my books on amazon, and contact me through bjhyman2112@gmail .com.

Until next time, happy reading.

Op opening the world of climbing to people with limited sight.

We'll on mid m a blind entrepreneur is re- envisioning the possibilities for the visually- impaired.

Matthew shifrin is making rock climbing accessible -- using álegosá.

Cbs this morning saturday co- host dana jacobson caught up with him ábeforeá the pandemic.

Above your left shoulder you've got a good one.

You don't have to rock climb to know& left foot it's no easy feat..

áevená with perfect vision.

But matthew shifrin is proof that - in climbing - lack of sight is a conquerable obstacle.

// a sighted climber comes to the wall, looks at it, and then is able to really think their process through even before they get on the wall, // 21:52:01 and so // i was thinking, "yo know, there's gotta be a way to create a system so that blind people can feel climbing routes before they climb them."

Nat pop matt with legos that system relies on the caller - who is their eyes on the ground - to mock up the wall using legos.

222615 dana: so each lego, each piece represents a different type of foothold that he'll know.

Max: yeah.

Shifrin's caller is max hernandez& and in a matter of minutes - 2230 dana: oh i can see it.

Now it makes sense.

He converts áthisá wall into this map of legos.

Nats 223340 max: this is when it gets steep and you're traversing right.

Matt: ah smart.

Big jug, big jug.

Cool should we try it?

Shifrin was born with a condition that causes abnormal blood vessel growth in the retina... which creates scarring - resulting in complete blindness.

He says - in many ways - legos gave him eyes.

Dana jacobson: 21:48:40 how do legos help you see the world around you?

Matthew shifrin: 21:48:43 they miniaturize the world because when blind people touch things touch is sequential.

I can't touch a whole building.

I can touch a window, then a column, then a step.

And then be like, "oh this must be a building."

But whe you build with lego, the scale is so small and so convenient that you're able to take in entire buildings, entire cityscapes with a single hand.

Dana jacobson: 21:49:09 the idea that something that's a child's toy could open up the world for you i think is pretty incredible to some people.-- matthew shifrin: 21:49:18 oh, it's thrilling.

A sentiment echoed by visually- impaired climbers mandi curtis and justen proctor.

Dana jacobson: 20:48:13 how have legos made you a better climber, mandi?

Mandi curtis: 20:48:16 // matt really brought this to life from nowhere, and i joke that he's some kind of wizard // 20:48:37 the way that you can take legos and really write out a climb in a very tactile way, helps me understand not even the precision of the shapes of the holds, but the-- the way the climb is gonna flow.

20:56:29 // and that helps me understand how to position my body.

And that's really crucial for me // 20:56:45 so that i can conserve energy and become a better climber even faster.

Dana jacobson: 20:57:12 justen, how 'bout for you?

Justen proctor: 20:49:51 oh, i thought that was an amazing idea.

// it was like-- that was a perfect-- solution because we also wanted something that was // mobile that we, you know, // where legos you can just come up to the route and the routes change often and just do that accordingly.

20:50:28 and you can move from climb to climb without that lag time of waiting.

Proctor has a degenerative eye condition which over time caused him to lose all his vision& justen proctor: 20:47:44 // i-- i like to push the envelope.

But i know what my limits are too at the same time.- and curtis has sight in only one eye& which she describes as looking through a door's peep hole.

Dana jacobson: 20:53:06 // why is it important that somebody that has a limitation do a sport like this?

Mandi curtis: 20:53:24 i think the thing is, like, we always think about disabilities as limiting.

But the truth is, like, it's not the disability that limits the person, it's the world that we live in that limits people.

20:53:37 // you know, we need society to take the extra step to allow us the room, the accessibility for us to do what we would naturally do anyway.

And it's become shifrin's personal mission to keep paving the way for more access to the disabled community.

Matthew shifrin: // and kind of f-- f-- i think it's really up to us to always be energized as disabled people, or just people who think from a different perspective.

21:58:27 everyone deserves the thrill of doing something that they never thought was possible.

Dana jacobson, cbs news.

He hopes this lego system will be used at the paralympics... and adapted for other sports like skiing - so blind skiers can know what to expect before they go down a route.

Pretty as a picture.

A facebook post about an indiana flower farm goes viral.

Reporter kristin bien visits "field t vase."

Look at these flowers... bright... beautiful... and freshly picked... "i love flowers.

Love flowers more than i ever thought i did."

And...melissa ripley planted these by hand.

"and everything i hand seeded, hand planted.

We don't have planters, we get on our knees and every single flower is planted here was put in by one of us."

Ripley...her two children and her husband... started the field to vase u- pick flower farm just 4 years ago.

They turned a small bean field ... into a few rows of flowers... and they were picked clean... "so it was just tha little corner up there.

And every weekend we would get picked out and i would say i think we have something.

Why don't we plant more next year.

So we did this whole thing and just the same every weekend we would get picked out so the third year this side and it didn't change.

Every day we would get picked out and so lets just fill the field and that is when we added the sunflower area over there."

Now, the family has dozens of rows... and customers are drawn to the field... by the thousands.

"we have closer t 50 rows now.

We have all different kinds of sunflowers, different varieties colors, we have giant zinnas, candy striped zinnas, straw flowers, godfreenas, jumbo marigolds, gladiolas all different kinds of cool flowers."

The best time to pick is in august... when the flowers are mature and the regrowth is plentiful.

"when you hav one stem and it gets cut& it takes a couple days and then like 3 or 4 stems will grow in its place."

Ripley is amazed that her small corner of the earth... cared for by her family... has grown into a flourishing business... "i would neve have imagined in a million years it would turn out like this.

But we are really happy that it did."

Indiana may be too far to drive to indiana may be too far to drive to pick your own sunflowers.

There's a place outside of picayune that you can try here in mississippi.

It's called coastal ridge farms. there's charlie's u pick in wiggins.

You can also check with the wise family farm in pontotoc.

They are usually open in the fall.

What happens when a group of people enter a house and quarantine for several weeks?

They call it big brother.

That story next on mid morning.