Community Coronavirus News Sarasota: Recent Episodes
Jacob Wentz
The weekly Community Coronavirus News segment, hosted by Jacob Wentz, is part of the Critical Times Radio Show, which airs live on WSLR on Fridays at 6 p.m. and Mondays at 9:30 a.m.
This news segment goes beyond reporting on the physical health outcomes related to COVID-19, focusing on coverage of social, emotional, economic and equity issues in Florida's Suncoast.
Narratives around the pandemic necessarily include facts and numbers, but ultimately, go deeper—telling the stories of inequities that COVID-19 has brought to light.
Vaccines to protect against COVID-19 have been developed with unprecedented speed and technical skill, but also amid a culture of mistrust and conflicting information. Jacob Wentz provides an overview on how these vaccines work and why they were approved for use so quickly.
Governor Ron DeSantis welcomed the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to Tampa General Hospital Monday morning. In Florida, frontline healthcare workers and residents at long-term care facilities are first in line to receive immunizations. Here is a critical update on vaccines in Florida.
The Sarasota City Commission has unanimously decided to part ways with longtime City Manager Tom Barwin and replace him with Deputy City Manager Marlon Brown. Jacob Wentz reports on the timeline of this decision and Barwin’s contributions to Sarasota.
As COVID-19 cases surge across the country, there is growing evidence that smokers and e-cigarette users are at greater risk because these behaviors harm the lungs. Jacob Wentz reports on the risks associated with smoking during the pandemic and action some leading health groups are calling for.
On Friday, in his weekly emergency order relating to the pandemic, Sarasota City Manager Tom Barwin called to reinstate a water shutoff moratorium. That means that the city will not shut off water utilities for those who are late on their payments for utility bills.
The moratorium will be in effect through January 15, 2021, going beyond the moratorium the city typically instates during the holidays.
Yesterday, Dec. 1, was World AIDS Day, an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic and mourning those who have died of the disease. This year’s World AIDS Day was unlike others, as we find ourselves in a second pandemic: COVID-19
The ways in which COVID-19 has affected the AIDS community became a key topic discussed by health officials in educational panels yesterday. One of the key takeaways was that COVID-19 has brought to light the health disparities and social inequities that have also played important roles in the spread of HIV.
Dr. Jonathan Mermon, the Director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS speaks about those issues.
While recent news of effective COVID-19 vaccines is promising, hospitalization and case numbers are expected to worsen before any vaccine can turn the tide.
What’s more, as we head into winter, public health experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci are concerned about a severe flu season, which could result in what some are calling a “twindemic” -- the interaction of influenza and the novel coronavirus.
But what might that look like? Dr. Manuel Gordillo, the medical director of Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s Infection Prevention and Control unit, explained that there are a couple of ways that this year’s flu season could play out.
Amendment 3 sought to open Florida’s closed primaries, allowing all voters to vote in state and legislative races regardless of party affiliation. Proponents say that the open primary forces candidates to appeal to a broader constituency. Under the proposed “top-two” open primary system, the two candidates who get the most votes in each primary would then advance to the general election, even if they’re from the same party.
The amendment ended up failing, only garnering 57% of votes in support. For amendments to pass in Florida, they need to reach a 60% majority.
I caught up with Tallahassee attorney Glenn Burhans Jr., who is the chairman of All Voters Vote to see what challenges the amendment faced this election cycle.
Jacob Wentz reports on a recent Biden campaign rally and the importance of youth voting in Florida, with input from Senator Amy Klobuchar.
After sending students home midway through the previous Spring semester, when coronavirus intensified across the state, Florida universities were tasked with thinking through how they would offer students safe learning environments.
Now, colleges around the state are midway through a semester like no other.
This week, I caught up with representatives from New College of Florida, Ringling College of Art and Design, and the University of South Florida, Sarasota Manatee campus to see how each institution responded to the pandemic, and how they’re currently doing.
WSLR's Jacob Wentz interviewed Sen. Amy Klobuchar about youth voting in Florida, COVID-19, minimum wage and women's equality when she hosted a Biden campaign rally in Sarasota in late October.
Hear the unedited interview here.
Sarasota Memorial Hospital was the first hospital in Florida to run clinical trials on the Regeneron COVID-19 antibody cocktail, an experimental treatment that received national attention after President Trump praised it for speeding up his coronavirus recovery.
Jacob Wentz reports on the standard of care for COVID-19 patients and what Sarasota Memorial Hospital has learned since starting the trials.
It's been more than a week since Gov. Ron DeSantis rolled back restrictions on capacity and face coverings for restaurants, bars, shops and gyms, and local businesses have mixed feelings about the mandate.
Last week, I talked with Dr. Lisa Merritt about the public health implications of the executive order. This week, I wanted to hear a local business owner’s story about COVID-19 and the challenges it continues to pose.
I spoke with Ellen Cornelius, a co-owner of the Blue Rooster in the Rosemary District of downtown Sarasota, about how COVID-19 has affected her business.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced last Friday that Florida would be entering Phase 3 in reopening the state, meaning restaurants, bars, salons, and other businesses will be allowed to reopen under full capacity.
Despite Florida being a coronavirus hot spot for most of the summer, the state had seen a decline in cases during most of September. Speaking in St Petersburg, DeSantis said Florida hit its peak for coronavirus infections and deaths in July.
I caught up with a local public health expert, Dr. Lisa Merritt, the founder of the MultiCultural Health Institute, to see what she had to say.
According to a report released on Wednesday by March of Dimes, a nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies, 7 million women of childbearing age live in counties in the US where there is no or limited access to maternity care. These have been dubbed maternity care deserts.
March of Dimes launched an advocacy campaign to raise awareness of this issue, demanding #BlanketChange
After shutting down bars to stop the spread of coronavirus, the state of Florida is once again giving bars the chance to reopen and serve drinks. Jacob Wentz visited Memories Lounge to see how they've been affected by the virus.
This Tuesday, the Sarasota Office of Housing and Community Development began accepting applications for their Coronavirus Relief Fund Rental Assistance Program.
The program aims to provide rental assistance to those who have been financially impacted by COVID-19. Those who are eligible can request up to five (5) months of rental assistance for a rental unit in Sarasota County and can receive up $9,000 total through the program.
I spoke with Cindy Emshof, the Interim General Manager of the Office of Housing and Community Development about the goals of the program.
A few weeks ago, I produced a story about how COVID-19 was affecting Florida’s largest farmworker community, Immokalee.
At its peak in July, Immokalee reported the fifth highest COVID cases per zip code in the state of Florida. It was the only community in the ten most affected zip codes that was rural -- all the others were in urban areas like Miami.
The spread of the virus in Immokalee has slowed since its peak in July, mainly because thousands of farmworkers traveled north for the summer harvest. But as these workers begin returning to Florida for the fall harvest, community leaders are concerned that Immokalee will experience a second spike in cases.
The 2020-21 school year began for students and staff in the Sarasota County School District on Monday. This date was three weeks later than originally scheduled because of COVID-19.
Since March 11, when students left school for spring break and didn’t return because of the virus, district leaders have grappled with how to reopen schools.
The Reopening plans approved by the Sarasota County School Board include a five-day, brick and mortar instructional plan for parents who want their students to return to traditional public school full-time. It also includes a remote option where students can learn with the same robust instruction as those in the traditional public school classroom.
I spoke with a teacher in the Sarasota County school district about how her first week of classes went.
The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in domestic partners and families spending more time together at home. Not surprisingly, being in such close proximity for extended periods of time has resulted in higher stress levels.
These increased levels of stress raise a concern: are people in the same households more likely to intimidate or physically hurt one another?
I posed this question to a representative from the Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center (SPARCC), which is a local non-profit agency whose mission is to stop domestic and sexual violence in our communities.
A week ago Tuesday, the Florida primary election came to a close. Voter turnout across the state was the highest it’s been in 18 years, and it was even higher in Sarasota county.
Last week, I talked with local political commentator Frank Alcock about turnout trends in the county -- namely, how Democratic turnout increased and Republican turnout decreased. This week, we’re going to discuss some of the other takeaway from the election.
Michele Rayner, a local civil rights attorney, won against three other candidates in the House District 70 election on Tuesday. No Republicans ran, which opened the primary to all voters regardless of party affiliation. It also meant that Rayner is now confirmed to become a house representative ahead of the November 3 General Election.
Michele talked with me about why representation matters in politics, her priorities related to COVID-19, and how she plans to navigate the majority-Republican State House.
The Florida primary election came to a close Tuesday evening and across the state, voter turnout was the highest it’s been in 18 years. More than 28% of Florida voters casted ballots in the primary. In Sarasota County, the percentage of voter turnout was even higher than in the state as a whole, with over 31% of voters casting ballots.
I spoke with Frank Alcock, a political commentator and Professor of Political Science at New College of Florida, about what this high voter turnout might mean for the upcoming general and presidential elections.
At the start of the month, the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections office set up a new way for voters to cast their ballots during the pandemic: a drive-thru drop off.
Many Sarasota County voters who visited the drive-thru drop box mentioned that they felt reassured that their vote would be secure and counted if they drove it to the Supervisor of Elections office instead of mailing it in.
This is the story of Dr. Majorie Elizabeth Roberts, a COVID-19 survivor who had to fight the virus while also fighting for the medical treatment she needed.
Towards the end of July, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the total number of people claiming unemployment insurance equaled 31.8 million. That means that roughly one out of every five workers searching for work cannot find it. The recession brought on by the coronavirus has been deemed the fastest recession in U.S. history, with unemployment rising higher in three months of COVID-19 than in two years of the Great Recession of 2008.
With federal unemployment benefits coming to a halt, and Congress stuck in partisan debate over these benefits, what can unemployed individuals do to stay afloat? In this segment, you'll hear from a representative from CareerSource Suncoast about resources being offered to unemployed community members.
COVID-19 has affected all aspects of life. One that gets a lot of attention is the economy — and for good reason. Government data reports that the number of unemployed Americans rose from about 6 million in February to 20.5 million in May.
So how has unemployment affected the economy? Professor of Economics Mark Paul talks about the recession, newly expired federal benefits and the housing market.
Originally produced for the Critical Times and WSLR 96.5 in Sarasota, Florida.
Race and ethnicity are part of the most important demographic data that COVID-19 researchers and healthcare professionals are calling for. But even as the U.S. testing infrastructure improves, race and ethnicity information is missing for just under half of reported COVID-19 cases in the state of Florida.
This podcast was originally produced for the Critical Times and aired on WSLR on Friday, July 24.
As COVID-19 cases surge in urban parts of South Florida, one zip code stands out from the rest. Immokalee, known for its rural farmworker community, reports the fifth highest COVID cases per zip code in the state of Florida. All of the other cities in the ten most affected zip codes are urban.
In this segment, I speak with leaders from Immokalee about how coronavirus has affected the community, why farmworkers are particularly vulnerable, what action has been taken and what more needs to be done.
For more information, visit www.immokaleecovid19.org.
This podcast was originally produced for the Critical Times and aired on WSLR on Friday, July 17.
Community leaders provide food and face masks to Oneco, a neighborhood experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases.
Originally produced for WSLR's Critical Times Week in Review. For more information, visit www.criticaltimes.org.