Im soledad obrien. Welcome to matter of fact. Seven months into the coronavirus outbreak, what do we know . According to new data from the centers for Disease Control and prevention, the number of people in the u. S. Who have been infected with the virus could be 6 to 24 times higher than the number of reported cases. How is that even possible . About 40 of infected people do not have symptoms, but they can and do pass the virus to others, many who never seek a test. But the current surge is straining our testing system. Labs are overwhelmed, and in some places, it can take 47 days to get results. A positive result triggers the work of contact tracers, who work as part of our Public Health system. Their job is to contact those exposed and help them isolate. Meet contact tracer, sivanthy vasanthan, who says her goals are to stop the spread, and calm the fear. My name is sivanthy vasanthan, i am a remote contact tracer and im based in new york city. Contact tracing is one of the few tools that we really do have to stop widespread cases in an epidemic or a pandemic much like covid19, because the more people like i and other tracers are able to identify as being hello and welcome to asian sick, we can preventatively tell other people so that they are getting tested earlier on and we are then stopping the spread of pacific america, im robert the disease. Handa your host for our virtual show here on nbc bay area and there are different definitions of contacts. Cozi tv. We start with david chew to talk one definition that we have been primarily using is anyone that about asian backlash and how to you have had close contact or do something about it and then been with for more than 10 we meet up with playwright minutes and less than six feet apart. Jeanne bar oga and then from the when i call someone who has been south bay Group Parents helping identified as a contact of someone with covid19, many our performance from times, they immediately want to know who. And we dont have that information, and i also im not allowed to share that information, so ill often say you were just in contact with somebody who was known to have covid19. So i think at that point, it can be challenging, because many contacts expressed fear and paranoia, and i do highly suggest that if you are comfortable telling your contacts, saying, hey, i tested for covid this day and i know we hung out two days ago, i just wanted to let you know so that you could get tested and so you could watch for symptoms, i think thats extremely important as well, but i also completely understand the feelings of fear and shame and guilt that folks might be having in making those calls, which is why its important that contact tracers like me make those calls ourselves. Soledad dr. Amesh adalja is a senior scholar at the Johns HopkinsUniversity Center for health security, focusing on Infectious Disease and pandemic preparedness. He practices Infectious Disease, critical care, and emergency medicine in the pittsburgh metropolitan area. Dr. Adalgisa, thank you so much for joining me. Im almost afraid to start with this question, but i will. What are you most worried about right now . Im most worried about that. We have reached a new normal where were continuing to continue to be plagued by cases in hotspots all over the country that are very hard to get under control and which put hospitals into crisis. Soledad some people talk about a big lag in testing and weve just heard from our contact tracer, so contact tracer, so i would think without results, it kind of makes the Contact Tracing part extremely difficult with a lag and test results taking seven days in some parts of the country makes Contact Tracing futile. And it really just allows the outbreak to continue to spread. The variations between states have to do with what resources are available in each state. And its worse in some of the hotspots where there is a big demand and you cannot have any kind of control of this outbreak unless people are getting test results back very quickly. Soledad so then supplies across the country. Is it just. Well, it depends. Basically, it is, and it has to do with whats called a reagent. One of the ingredients you used to to run the test in the region supplies. They are tightly controlled and there prioritize to hospitals for inpatient testing. For the outpatients is a little bit much more much different. Its kind of rationed and its something youre going to definitely need to deal with when we get into flu season, when were gonna have to be able to diagnose flu and coronavirus very rapidly because theyve two different treatment paths. Soledad can you walk me through some of the most promising treatments . The biggest advantage we have now is the use of steroids. So these are just the same steroids that you might have gotten for inflammation in your knee or for asthma. These steroids, when given to people with the need for oxygen in the hospitals, seem to decrease mortality. We also have an experimental antiviral drug called remdesivir. This truck hasnt been shown to decrease mortality, but it does get people out of the hospital about 30 quicker, which is really important when were really looking at Hospital Capacity as a major metric to follow. Another thing that were doing is using convalescent plasma. This is taking the blood of people who have recovered and taking out blood and transfusing that the plasma portion into people because theres antibodies in there that might be beneficial. And the last thing were doing is trying to find antibodies that people have and basically synthesize them, make them into drugs and then administer those to people. And this is also something that we think will be very promising because it was what really changed the game with ebola. Soledad talk to me about asymptomatic people, because it seems to me that theyre hugely problematic, especially considering that were not really tracing and tracking and isolating particularly well. What it seems to be is that there are people out there that dont have symptoms but they dont know theyre sick yet and they are able to spread it. And this is where the whole mask change came from. The mask policy change that if people are out there that are asymptomatic or pre symptomatic and can spread it, they need some kind of source control so they dont give it to other people. Soledad whats the advice you give people on masks . I tell people if you cant social distance, you should wear a face covering. When youre indoors, when youre in a congregate setting, when youre in some kind of place. People that are less than six feet away from you, thats where the mask is useful. Soledad dr. Amos adalgisa, thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it. Coming up we are getting in good trouble to set people free. Soledad whats the proper way to honor john lewis legacy . Plus. You can only reach this town by boat or plane. And only the United StatesPostal Service delivers. But what happens if the post office runs out money . And a nonprofit wants to deliver more than just pizza to the polls. If you are hungry for democracy, sign up. Where are you . honey, did you hear about these new geico savings . Mom . Youll get an extra 15 on top of what geico could already save you. Can i call you back . Your fathers been researching our geneology. Were vikings theres never been a better time to save with geico. Switch by october seventh for an extra 15 on car and motorcycle insurance. Hey, we lost the wifi password. Do you remember what that is . We waste up to 20 gallons of water every time we prerinse lets skip the rinse. New finish quantum with activeblu technology, designed to clean without prerinsing. Switch to finish and skip the rinse to save water. Soledad welcome back. The United StatesPostal Service warns it will run out of money unless congress delivers a 75 billion bailout. The Postal Service is normally apolitical, but now finds itself the target of president trump, who s joke, and demanded it quadruple its package rates before hed authorize any emergencai how did one of the most popular Government Agencies find itself in a cash crisis . We asked our special contributor, joie chen, to look into the post offices past and what may be in store for its future. You can go a long way on . 55 to just about the furthest corner of the u. S. , bethel, alaska. It is not an island, but you cannot get there by road, because there is not one. No roads lead to bethel. So if you want anything delivered, it is usually going to be by plane. In this part of america, even if . 55 firstclass letter is a lifeline. I dont think that most people know, what its like out here. Member of the native yupik community. Internet service here is not a given. Amazon trucks do not deliver. But this is america too, and fredericks says it needs the connections only the post office brings. What i would say is, just like that anything else that connects us to the rest of the world, the rest of the country, its just, its not ok to just cut us off. Another 55 cent stamp will take you 3800 miles from bethel, down to marylands eastern shore, where i asked sandy cep if she thinks her work is much different from the post office up there. Im gonna say not. As a rural carrier we are the as a rural carrier, we are the connection. We always used to say we are the post office on wheels. The birth announcements, the bills come other junk mail, and vital prescriptions for nearly four decades until she retired last month. 21601, easton. But my route was route 5, and i was route 5 for 38 years. I never switched to another route. Like sandy cep, the post office has a long history of Community Service the first postmaster general, ben franklin, created a network of roads along the atlantic coast, where you can still find old post roads today. By the early 1900s, americans trusted the Postal Service so much that parents used parcel post to mail their children. A practice the postmaster general begged them to stop. The service has long provided opportunity today, nearly four in ten workers are people of color and 40 are women. The Postal Service consistently ranks as americas favorite federal agency. And despite dire financial straits, 8. 8 billion in losses last year alone, some, like new york a writer, casey cep, argue, we cant afford to lose the Postal Service. Is that really true . It is absolutely true. Cep acknowledges her biasher s,er mom is retired carrier sandy cep. But she also points out that even the Founding Fathers understood the value of the Postal Service. You know, you say that, but sometimes history is just, quaint. Yeah. Its certainly true that the history of the Postal Service is incredibly quaint and full of americana. Is it also outmoded . No, absolutely not. I mean look, i think a lot of our lives have moved on line but not all of it. And the pandemic has been a fine example of that for a lot of people. Even during the pandemic, the Postal Service has delivered. Cdc safety guidelines, mailin votes, and the 2020 census, along with all the usual mail. But the pandemic has cut into firstclass and junk mail. The usps major sources of revenue. Taxpayers do not fund Postal Service operations, those stamps and packages do. In fact, supporters argue if congress would just looked at the mans it but on the usps the fund Worker Health care and retirement seven decades in advance, the Postal Service could even be profitable. But even if it werent, we would still want it. Even if it werent profitable, we would still want to be able to reach every american, regardless of zip code. Which is what the Founding Fathers intended to hundred 45 years ago. To connect americans 245 years ago. To connect americans from 99559 to 21601 and beyond. For matter of fact, im joie chen, in denton, maryland. Soledad coming up is america ready for a female Vice President . Soledad democrats and republicans have had a woman on the ticket as vp before. What makes this moment different . Plus, can one Organization Find 250,000 people to work on do you have concerns about mild memory loss related to aging . Prevagen is the number one pharmacistrecommended memory support brand. You can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Soledad six women ran for president in the democratic party. That is the most ever. But former Vice President joe biden prevailed and promised to pick a woman as his running mate. That woman will be just the third to run as a Vice President ial candidate on a majorparty president ial ticket. With Hillary Clinton being the only woman to run at the top of a major party ticket. Whats ahead for the woman to join the democratic ticket . Especially a woman of color . It or not. Test women face, like joining me is kelly dittmar, a professor of Political Science at rutgers universitycamden and a scholar at the center for american women and politics at the Eagleton Institute of politics. Kelly, always nice to have you join us. Kelly, walk me through. Back in 1984, when they were putting a woman on the ticket. What was similar from that tentative time from that time to this time and what was completely different . After the 1980 election, which really signaled the emergence of the gender gap and voting in which it was secure, that women were really voting more likely for democrats than were men. Which made them a base of the party. Womens groups like the National Organization for women and others said to the democratic party, look, were you reliable voters . We need to leverage these votes into some sort of influence in the party. So they demanded that a woman was on the ticket. A real big difference is that s conversation about race and the importance, particularly of women of color to the democratic party. I think this year were grappling in a much more serious way with the differences among women and the real loyalty of black women to the democratic party. Soledad do you think biden has to pick a woman of color or do you think he has to pick a black one woman . A black woman . To me, and i think a lot of other organizations and advocates, it is particularly important for him to not only consider, but to nominate a woman of color. And i would add particularly a black woman, because of that history of black women, loyalty to the party and influence in the conversation. Soledad does your Vice President ial pick move the needle . We know Vice President ial candidates dont tend to shift peoples vote choice. What they do is they tend to shift peoples enthusiasm levels of engagement in the election. Peoples enthusiasm, levels of engagement in the election. But thats not nothing. Thats actually really important. Were looking at progressive voters, young voters, voters of color, particularly black women. And thats where were going to see the influence, i think, of the v. P. Candidate. Soledad so do you think if biden serves four years, what does he have to do to tee up the Vice President to be a candidate for the four years after that . You have to empower that person as a candidate and then potentially as Vice President to be speaking across issue areas to develop their reputation as somebody whos not only speaking to those communities and issues, but also building their reputation on Foreign Policy, on health care, on the economy. Thats setting somebody up for success in the next election. Soledad it brings us to the thing we talked about the last time, which i always loved referring to, which is the whole likability thing. You know, folks want to be likable in a in a way that is traditional to your gender. Gender stereotypes around feminine niceness. Right. And that youre light means that liked means that youre not out there talking about Foreign Policy and your toughness and things like that. That type of scrutiny will be something that whoever the vp nominee is will face. This is not the same bar to which you help mike, or to which you held joe biden when he was running for Vice President and being really thoughtful about how we have these conversations around qualifications, experience, and credentials for the job. Soledad so nice to have you. Thank you for joining me, appreciated. Ahead on matter of fact. He risked his life to ensure everyone had the right to vote. Why cant congress agree on how to honor the legacy of john lewis . Plus, is America Running low on poll workers . Welcome back. Democrats who want to update the Voting Rights act say now is the time because its the proper way to honor the late congressman , john lewis. He was honest and conscious of congress and recently that if you debated. He led sitins to integrate lunch counters in the south. He was also one of the original freedom riders. He led the march from selma to montgomery known as bloody sunday. Alabama state troopers brutally beat peaceful protesters, including mr. Lewis. Broadcast to living rooms across the country, bloody sunday ultimately led to the Voting Rights act of 1965. Now democrats want parts of the act restored and named after congressman john lewis. But republicans are opposed to both ideas. The Voting Rights act required specific jurisdictions mostly in the south to get federal approval before making changes to voting, voter id la