Biden sending medical teams to 6 states; Djokovic remains in limbo: 5 Things podcast
On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Biden to announce deployment of medical teams to 6 states
The move comes as the federal government grapples with an omicron variant COVID-19 surge. Plus, economic opportunity reporter Charisse Jones reports on how many Latinos live in areas lacking services, wellness reporter Sara Moniuszko talks about how therapy can be a dealbreaker when dating, Major League Baseball and its players meet for the first time in weeks and Novak Djokovic's status in Australia remains in limbo.
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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and this is 5 Things you need to know Thursday, the 13th of January 2022. Today, federal help for hospitals slammed by omicron. Plus disparities when it comes to where Latino Americans live, and more.
Here are some of the top headlines:
- A new report says that some 3.5 million cancer deaths have been prevented in recent decades, but the paper in the American Cancer Society's annual report warns that pandemic related impacts to cancer detection and treatment are not yet known.
- A car bomb has exploded outside the international airport in Somalia's capital of Mogadishu. At least eight people were killed and the Al-Shabaab extremist group claimed responsibility, saying it was targeting white officials passing by.
- And Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger is honest about his team's matchup in the playoffs with the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend. He told reporters, quote, "We don't have a chance."
President Joe Biden is expected to announce today that the federal government will send special medical teams to six states. The move comes as hospitals are slammed by COVID-19 nationwide with the omicron variant spreading around the country. The states are New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, Michigan, and New Mexico. The move follows a White House announcement yesterday that more COVID tests will soon be sent to schools around the country. White House COVID-19 Coordinator, Jeff Zients.
Jeff Zients:
Today we're taking additional actions, including sending 5 million free rapid tests to schools each month and providing another 5 million lab based tests each month. These 10 million additional tests available each month will allow schools to double the volume of testing they were performing in November. The president is clear, the nation's schools can and should be open. And we have given state and local leaders the resources to ensure they can be open.
Taylor Wilson:
That move comes as most young kids are still not vaccinated. As of Tuesday, only 17% of US children aged five to 11 were fully vaccinated more than two months after shots for the age group became available. There are also huge disparities around the country. Vermont is at 48% while Mississippi is only at 5%. The Biden White House is under pressure with 48 states reporting a bump in COVID hospitalizations from a week before and 41 states reported more patients in intensive care units. Still, as we talked about on the show yesterday, this latest surge might finally be turning a corner. There were 5.23 million reported infections in the week ending Tuesday, down slightly from 5.28 million in the week ending Monday. But even if the peak of omicron infections is passed, which is still not clear, deaths and hospitalizations from the surge could continue for weeks.
Latinos will represent more than a quarter of all people in the US by 2050. But they often live in areas that lack services. As Economic Opportunity Reporter Charisse Jones tells us, that ranges from adequate housing to healthcare.
Charisse Jones:
McKinsey & Company did a very comprehensive report that was looking at what the obstacles are to economic mobility for Latinos who make up 60 million people in the United States. And one of the key findings was that they are disproportionately based in deserts. Basically these census tracks are communities that are lacking really basic services and goods, from supermarkets where they can get nutritious groceries to affordable housing, to accessible healthcare. And that obviously has a terrible impact on your health physically, financially, and mentally. So these were really startling gaps and this kind of isolation and those kinds of disparities, many people feel really need to be addressed.
So for instance, 15% of Latinos lived in neighborhoods that were at least one mile away from a decent supermarket. 42% of Latinos lived in neighborhoods that didn't have sufficient affordable housing or were lacking in affordable healthcare that they could access. And so basically you just have these huge swaths of the community who, if they need to go to a bank or go to a doctor or buy food to put on the table, are really at a disadvantage.
And that becomes very expensive, right? I mean, if you have to go to another neighborhood in order to find groceries so you're not going to the local liquor store or the corner store that doesn't have anything but preserved foods, that costs you. You're paying for gas, you're paying bus fare. Not having banking services means that you've got to go pay check cashing fees or travel to a utility provider to pay your bill in person. So it really does take a toll financially, as well as physically on a large number of people in this country.
Taylor Wilson:
There are lots of factors to consider when trying to decide who to date and one can be how your partner deals with mental health. Wellness reporter, Sara Moniuszko has more on some people who feel that not going to therapy or focusing on your mental health can be a deal breaker.
Sara Moniuszko:
So preferences in dating differ, of course, on a case by case basis. But what we're seeing is more and more people are looking for someone who prioritizes their mental health. That prioritization is becoming increasingly important for a lot of people, so much so that for some, if you're not in therapy or not at least open to therapy, it could be a deal breaker. The therapist and relationship expert I spoke to did say it was reasonable for someone to have this as a preference on their potential partner checklist, so to say, but that it doesn't hurt for someone to try dating outside of that criteria. And what I heard from someone that I interviewed was she was less concerned if someone was actively in therapy, as opposed to just really wanting someone who shared that same belief in the benefit of personal growth, someone who was open to the idea of therapy. And of course there are ways to work on your personal growth outside of the traditional talk therapy that we think of.
There is still stigma that surrounds therapy unfortunately, less in today's society than it was in the past. Nowadays, we know kind of more about the importance of mental health and taking care of ourselves, but there's still a long ways to go in terms of truly normalizing it across the board. The therapist I spoke to hopes that these conversations about therapy, and about therapy and dating, and people seeking partners open to therapy will help kind of show it can benefit anyone and it's not something to be seen as strange or a turnoff and that in fact, clearly for some it actually has the opposite effect and can really be inviting for potential partners.
Taylor Wilson:
Check out Sara's full in today's episode description.
Major League Baseball and its players will meet today for the first time since December 1st when the players were locked out by the owners. MLB reached out to the union to set up the call after spending the last few weeks working on a new set of proposals. The league is not expected to address free agency or salary arbitration in their proposals, but they will discuss some major economic and competitive balance issues. They include ways to de-incentivize bad teams from purposefully tanking. MLB hopes to reach a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement that would not delay the start of spring training. That's scheduled to start on February 16th.
Novak Djokovic has been included in the draw for the Australian Open. The number one men's tennis player in the world has been in immigration limbo for days after deciding to arrive in Australia without vaccination for COVID-19, a breach of the country's border rules. He initially had his visa canceled on arrival when his vaccination exemption was rejected, but he won a legal battle on procedural grounds, allowing him to stay in the country. The government though has still not made a formal decision on whether to deport Djokovic and he's even now admitted that he put incorrect information on his travel declaration form. The Australian Open begins Monday in Melbourne. Fans will be allowed at the tournament, but only at 50% capacity.
Taylor Wilson:
Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us seven mornings a week wherever you get your podcast, including Spotify, your smart speaker and Apple Podcasts. Thanks to PJ Elliot for his great work on the show. And I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from Paste BN.