But first, get your mask back out to the combination of unhealthy air and rising covid cases. Is hitting the bay area hard. Thanks for joining us. Im christine zee. The bay area is dealing with a double whammy. Wildfire smoke is triggering a spare the air alert as covid cases continue to rise. Just in the last day, San Mateo County issued a face mask mandate for Health Care Workers. That will begin later this fall. And the Biden Administration is getting ready to mail out free covid tests once again. Joining us live now to talk about these issues and more, stanford Infectious Diseases researcher dr. Abraar karan. Doctor karan, thanks for your time today. Thanks so much. Well, lets start with the air quality at todays levels. Are you wearing a mask outside . Do you suggest others do . So its a great question. So as you know, in the bay area right now, weve got wildfire smoke coming down from oregon and from the northwest fires. And essentially, you know, the air quality index, if you looked at it over the last couple of days , it was up in the 141 50s where normally its like 30 to 40. So this is very unhealthy. Even today, its like in the lower hundreds. And if you look at the way that the advisories described, its that, you know, people who have underlying conditions will feel sensitive to these to these weather conditions. I would say that, you know, if you wear a high filtration mask like an n95 five, you will reduce the exposure you have to these fine particle fine particles that go deep in your lungs and cause inflammation. So it will be beneficial. Im sure that many people are not and they sort of just deal with it and have some symptoms. But the reality is the way that we think about these issues really has to change. Now that we are, you know, post pandemic. Right. So can i just ask you at what point would you say the numbers are low enough that you would feel more comfortable, al, and not feel like you need to take precautions against the outside air . Yeah. So when theyre back down to that 30 to 40 level, which is where they normally were before the fire had come in, you know, thats where youre kind of in the green zone. And if you have at home air quality monitor, which some people got during covid, those monitors will tell you roughly what it is inside of your home. And if you look online, you can see what it is outside. And this brings up one of the key points, which is that outdoor air comes inside into your home and then youre going to be breathing it in. So what happens outside matters. All right. Yeah a lot of ventilation issues to talk about. Right. Which we hope improved during the whole pandemic. But lets talk about those covid numbers. Are they up significantly or are they right now about what you might expect for fall . Its a good question. You know, you have to take into account that our testing infrastructure is very different, right . So we just dont were not testing quite as much. We dont have the same testing policies even at hospitals. And then people arent testing as much as at home and reporting those. So its really, really hard to know. I mean, what we do know and what you probably have seen your own personal life is that people are starting to get sick again. You know, the last few weeks and we do know that hospitalization numbers and deaths have been going up over the last few weeks. Now that trend is slowing a little bit. But yes, we certainly were now caught in another uptick. Is that what was driving San Mateo CountyPublic Health having yesterday Just Announced that they Want Health Care personnel to start Wearing Masks again as of november 1st, i know they are getting some criticism and pushback, so id like to hear what your thoughts are on that. Yeah, so you know that that most likely is one of the big lessons that we took away from covid in general, which is that during respiratory viruses and having Health Care Workers wear masks in these settings makes a lot of sense because people, including staff, bring in all kinds of respiratory infection into into hospitals and clinics and the patients there are very vulnerable. Theyre not the average person on the street. These are people that are oftentimes older, have comorbidities, and people often dont have symptoms. Or as we move in, i read a very interesting sort of analysis from the American College of physicians that said we may have more people just coming in when they have symptoms as covid becomes, quote unquote, more endemic. So we may even have people just coming in, even if theyre not feeling great. So these are all reasons why masking will really help patients. Uh okay. So not just for the or anymore, in your opinion, right . So what are the many respiratory concerns this fall and winter . Oh, i mean, of course, of course. Influenza of course. Sarscov2 of course, rsv and then a whole host of your your sort of seasonal coronaviruses and other respiratory infections in hospitals. We have bacterial pneumonias that are caused sometimes during certain types of outbreaks as well. But i think the most most concerning would be, again, flu and covid, right . So to that end, the Biden Administration is today relaunching the free covid Home Test Program starting next monday. You can order four free tests from covid test. Org. Again, thats covid test. Org. And then theyll be sent to your home doctor karen, are you surprised that the administration is doing this since they ended the covid emergency . So im not surprised that theyre doing this because again, one of the big takeaways from the from the pandemic was that testing and getting people to learn how to use tests at home can prevent ongoing spread of the virus. So this was a new concept for many people in the public. But for us in Infectious Disease and Public Health, using these lateral flow tests, weve been doing these for epidemic control for other diseases as well in the past. So i am not surprised. I think that the Biden Administration has some real top notch Public Health experts who advised that testing needs to be a part of what we do to stop outbreaks. Im not that surprised. I mean, we probably need way more tests than that. Honestly, though, for tests, you know, it can help. But some of those tests might be negative on one day. And then, you know, you test again and its positive. So right. How should people now, i guess, be using those tests or what are appropriate situations to take one out . So if youre having symptoms, youre not feeling well and youre like, im not sure what i have is it is it allergies . Is it Something Else . You know, right now we are in a big you know, we have a big uptick in cases relative to before. So i would use the test in that circumstance. Right. Because that will help you to know, okay, should i be going into work . Should i be going to this event or not . If especially if im having symptoms, of course, you will still have people that dont have symptoms and they can still go out and infect others. But were trying to get this as good as possible. Its not going to be perfect, but i guess thats what im asking, is do you think its qualitatively still different, right, from the you know, why not just go with if im sick, ill just stay home or stay away from people . Do you still want to know . This is covid . Yes. Yes, you do. Theres a few reasons why. So first of all, covid is, of course, a much more contagious. Second of all, depending on who you are. But many people in this country have comorbidities. Many are older. You may qualify to get paxlovid. And so the sooner you do that, the better. And knowing that you have covid and not Something Else is helpful in that way. Got it. Okay. Also i guess these tests come just in time because many of our old batches are expiring or have expired. Right from the last few rounds when we got them for free. When should you throw out the old ones . Like how much past expiration . Its a good question. You know, its a question that we had posed even to some of the test manufacturers and some of the test manufacturers have actually been updating their guidance on older batches. So what i would say is that whatever test you have, you can look online to see if the manufacturer has issued any specific guidance on their tests and some and many have. So thats what you should do. Okay. The new covid booster is out, of course, but were hearing stories of people being hit with a nearly 190 bill at some pharmacy since the government is not picking up the cost anymore, i guess insurance is supposed to, but not sure why this is happening. If theyre just not updated. And what do you think people should do . Because thats a deterrent. No, absolutely. So, you know, again, these vaccines really should be subsidized or, you know, they really should just be free. But if they if there is going to be some insurance negotiation is ongoing, they should be heavily subsidized and 190 is way, way too much for most people. And these are these are important. You know, we havent been vaccinated in over a year. You know, the more current vaccines are more well tailored to the variants that are spreading now. So its a good question. And i know theres going to be a lot of pushback on the administration. An i dont have the answers as to why this was done, but its a good question. And do you still believe that even just regular for young or middle aged, Healthy People should still get this booster, even if theyve gotten several boosters already and theyve caught covid before . Sure. So this is a question that was discussed a lot at the acip meeting, right. Where earlier this week with the cdc and what we were presented with was neutralizing antibody data. This is data to say, okay, when you get vaccinated, do you have an antibody response . And then well see in the real world what that means. So how well does that mean in terms of reducing infection, severe disease, death . I would say the trends are likely to be what we saw over the last few waves, which is that younger people will still get sick, but theyll probably have mild symptoms and there may be some effect in terms of like reducing how long youre contagious. But those are all things to be seen. But still, the benefits do outweigh the risks of these. You know, weve had a lot of data looking into side effects from vaccines , even more serious ones as well. And theyve been very, very, very minimal. So i would say yes. And you know, again, young people get the flu and not everybody gets very sick from the flu yet. We still recommend the flu shot for everybody because at a population level, it will save lives and that analysis was shown by cdc. All right, stanford Infectious Diseases researcher dr. Abrar. Kiran, thank you so much for your time and information today. Thanks. Coming up, no more right turns on red. San francisco could become only the second city in the nation to ban them completely. Heres why. Safety advocates say the change is needed next the headline. No more right turns on red safety advocate pushes for San Francisco wide band ban. That is joining us live now to talk more about the story, astra kane, Senior Editor at the standard. I wouldnt mind more bans as well. Thats always really fun. Hi, astrid. Hi. How are you today . Im good. Im good. So what is this . No turn on red campaign. And whos behind it . Yeah. So its a new campaign from local Transportation Safety advocate luke bornheimer. And it basically proposes exactly that. A citywide ban on drivers making a right turn on red. All right. I mean, it sounds new to a lot of people, but its not a complete new idea. Right . There is at least what one major us city doing this. Theres more than one new york city, all five boroughs famously have banned right turns on red for a long time. But the idea seems to be spreading. I think washington, d. C. Seattle and the College Towns of ann arbor, michigan, and cambridge, massachusetts, are also implementing it to one extent or another. Oh okay. So explain what their thinking is. How might know . Turning on red, right . That means youre sitting there at the red light. Youre not making that right turn. After you make a stop, youre just waiting, waittil rns green. How does that improve safy for pedestrians, cyclists and scooter riders . Yeah. So th is you know, most of us have experienced when were waiting at a red light, people behind us honking, urging us to go. And there is that kind ofggressive goading that forces people prematurely into an intersection where theyre having a difficult time seeing around a corner and in the aggregate, people make silly mistakes and eventually somebody gets hurt. So the idea is that by cutting that out of the equation, it would help San Francisco achieve its vision zero goals, or at least come a little bit closer. In 2022, we had at least 39 fatalities on city streets, 20 of which were pedestrians, right . So pedestrians are most at risk. And i wonder if this was also in part prompted by or at least got more attention after the four Year Old Girl who was in that stroller got hit and killed outside of that caltrain station at fourth and king so tragically, just about a month ago that i think at that place, too, you could turn right at the time from two lanes, not just one. Yeah. The city has promised to reevaluate that intersection. I mean, if youve driven in or walked or biked through that, you know how busy it is and how complicated it can be. So, you know, it doesnt matter how few people it is per year. Every life is precious and whatever we can do to kind of improve safety throughout the city, i think people should take a look at it. Yeah. And since there are other cities doing it and i know you said here in San Francisco there are some intersections where already you cant turn right on red. Is there any data from those places to kind of give evidence as to whether that really does help to not allow turns . Yeah, there is actually two years ago, at the behest of then supervisor matt haney, some 50 or so intersections throughout the tenderloin, which as most people know, is a very low income, densely populated area with a lot of through streets, some 50 intersections. They were people installed, no turn on red signs, and the speed limit was lowered. And according to sfmtas own data, this reduced close calls by 80. And generally safety was dramatically improved for residents of that neighborhood. Right. I mean, i know drivers watching us are probably fuming mad at this idea, but i think its interesting to remind them that it wasnt always the case where we could turn right on red. Right. Isnt that only something that we did in the last 50 years . I mean, amazingly. Right. It just seems like something thats been ingrained in us for as long as there have been cars. But apparently, yes, it was part of a federal transit package, a legislative package in 1975 that at least at the time, um, was tied to the idea of improved fuel economy for cars. Unfortunately, theres been no data to suggest that allowing drivers to make a right turn on red has anything to do with improved mileage. But yeah, i hear you. It might be difficult to convince everyone across town that this is something you cant do anymore. Well, astrid, even if it doesnt help with fuel efficiency, theres got to be some arguments for the ability to turn right on red. I mean, apart from the fact that were all just used to it so increased enforcement, if there were to be any, would kind of necessarily ensnare people and maybe get some unwanted traffic tickets. I mean, its really just that theres its just a part of the way we drive around town. Well, okay. So speaking of enforcement, im glad you brought that up because i think your colleague only last week or two weeks ago wrote a whole article about how enforcement is really down in the city. I think all of last year there were maybe ten moving citations issued. Its like down 97. Something crazy like that. So, i mean, no new rule is going to change anything if you dont have enforcement. Its entirely true. But thats up to the sfpd and the people who enforce the laws. Thats true. Okay. So bottom line here, you know, you have this street advocacy person who put this idea out there. What do they do to make it happen . And then who actually decides . And is the city actually considering it . So right now, theres a campaign to get 6000 people to write letters to the to the sfmta. When i spoke to the mta, they said they were looking into expanding this program out of the tenderloin and into other areas of downtown, specifically union square, chinatown and the financial district. And they wanted to do it in a smart way, kind of neighborhood by neighborhood and not intersection by intersection. But at this time, they were pretty adamant that there is no plans to introduce it citywide. Okay. But i think theres no doubt that theres definitely more conversation in these days about slower streets in general, not just in San Francisco, but across urban regions overall. Oh, absolutely. Cities like portland and new york city are dramatically lowering speed limits and one of the most important things you can do to introduce safety is to reconfigure the infrastructure of dangerous intersections. So no turn on. Right. Would just be kind of one small part of that. Astrakhan, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time today. Thank you. Appreciate you. You can check out more of astrids story and the San Francisco standards other original reporting on their website. Sf standards. Com. Up next, art, music, food and fun at an event for the whole family is coming up in the north bay this weekend and abc7 is a proud sponsor more on the mill valley fall Arts Festival coming up on getting saturday. Abc seven is a proud sponsor. It will take place among the redwoods at mill valleys historic old mill park. Joining us live now with a preview are haven armistead, a junior at tam high and zach gilmore. Tam high, art teacher and president of the mill valley fall Arts Festival board. Thank you both for joining us today. Thank you. Okay. So who wants to tell us about the f