building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc7 nenenene good afternoon, i am liz kreutz. you are watching getting answers here on abc7, who live, and wherever you stream. this is where we ask experts every day at 3:00 to get answers in real time.real time.. today, we will hear from the oakland mayor. she responds to a budget counter with the issues surrounding police funding, violence prevention, and the oakland a's, also a search and rescue coordinator will talk to us following the report that it cost $32,000 to rescue one kayaker who tried tried tried t

trip to hawaii. first, covid-19, early on it was about whether or not you could die. we are a year and a half into the discovery of this virus. now we are getting more information on people with lingering issues known as long haulers. joining us to talk about this is dr. julia morgan from ucsf, i know we had another color, i know she is busy working. dr. morgan, thank you for being here. let's talk about, what exactly are long >> they are people who have had an initial covid-19 infection, you know, they don't get better, or they get a little better and start feeling worse. this can linger for weeks or months. we now even have people who have been suffering longer than a year. >> while. is there any sense yet of how many people are experiencing these long-term effects?

>> we will see varying numbers from 10% of people who might linger in a few weeks to months, up to 30% of people who have had an initial covid-19 infection. a couple of weeks out, they don't feel like themselves. >> so what are some of the main side effects that people are experiencing? are they physical? are they mental? does it vary? >> myself and dr. johnson, we arrived at the covid-19 group at ucsf, so we have had the privilege of working with people, long haulers, this system is a profound fatigue that people experience. they live vibrant lives. doctors, nurses, lawyers, mothers, and suddenly, they have fatigue that makes it hard to get out of bed.

that is the most common symptom we see. we also see headaches, brain fog, shortness of breath, chest pain, low endurance, so we see myriad symptoms with that long covid. dr. johnson is here. >> let's bring her in. dr. johnson is here atwell -- i know you're busy, both of you, at work. thank you for being here. we were just having dr. morgan talk about some of the side effects, the mental side effects, the physical side effects. i want to mention a specific person, heidi ferreira died by suicide recently after a 13 month covid with long-haul covid. she became completely bedridden, in constant pain, she said she was suffering from

neurological tremors and other worsening symptoms. so, dr., are you seeing people with similar side effects? is there any reason why this is happening? >> first of all, let me say we did not take care of this particular patient. they were not seen here. what we have seen people in our group who are dealing with really serious feelings of depression and feelings of their feelings not being heard, and also feeling like there might not be treatments for the symptoms. so that has been really hard for them to deal with. we have been able to connect many of our group members who are struggling with mental health resources. we are very happy we have been able to do that for them. and it sounds like, unfortunately, in this case, the symptoms for this patient

were so overwhelming. we would like to say that for both of us, i think i can speak for dr. morgan when i say that we think all people who have chronic illness or who are going through big life changes, all of these are happening in long covid, should seek out the care of their primary care doctor as well as someone who is in the mental health field, even when they feel like things are under great control, these symptoms can change really rapidly. because there is not a a a a a source of support for long covid as it would be for something like diabetes, for example, it is really important that you have those people in your lives already. it's kind of like when you go to the grocery store and you are hungry, you know? you will eat whatever appeals to you at that moment. whereas, if you have a plan

going ahead, you are going to make better choices and kind of be able to navigate things. one of the people who can help you navigate in a crisis situation is someone who has mental health experience. >> right. dr. morgan, we are getting questions from people on facebook live. gregory is asking, can a symptomatic people be long haulers? >> yeah, it's a people who have had asymptomatic infection or mild infection or severe infection, we know that all those people can potentially get long covid. >> dr. johnson, if you want to weigh in, is there any treatment for people who do have these symptoms? >> i think what is important to remember is that there are many

symptoms. i can't remember the count of the number. it is well above 20 that people struggle with. these affect numerous body systems, including skin, lungs, nervous system, mood, heart, you know, so different doctors specialize in different parts of the bodies. the best place to start is with your primary care doctor and have them refer out. many places don't have covid centers. we do recommend trying to find one in your area. those centers normally have resources of different types of practitioners, whether they be doctors, acupuncturists, chiropractors, different kinds of providers that can help with these symptoms. is there a specific symptom you are interested in learning more about? >> i think it varies for each f

person. i know dr. morgan is saying fatigue is the primary symptom you are seeing, but we are also seeing from this instance i just referenced, more symptoms, so i suppose -- is there another common symptom you are seeing in addition to fatigue? either of you can jump in, dr. morgan, if you want to jump in and -- >> so as dr. johnson said, we hope people with long covid will get tailor-made care for them and their specific symptoms they are suffering from and they will be able to build a medical team around them because it takes a village, and maybe one day we will have very targeted treatments specifically for the

aftermath of covid-19. we don't have them now. but we can help people with symptoms they are experiencing now. i think it really important message is, if you are experience it -- experiencing it, it is real. we believe you. we know you need help for these symptoms. people are not alone. this is something i think is the most powerful part of the group. people really learn they are not alone in this. >> if it's okay, we will continue streaming on facebook live, stick with us, but for all of you watching on abc7, we will have the oakland mayor here to talk about gun violence and budget is

thank you.

will come back, our abc7 news anchor and talked with the oakland mayor, and the covered gun violence, prevention efforts, a budget counterproposal and the oakland a's. take a listen. >> we want to start with the deadly shooting. we know there will be a vigil at the lake. it has been three days now. what are your thoughts? >> well, this is such a tragedy in oakland, but access to guns. i want to be clear it's the guns rather than the gatherings that have caused this violence. what gave me some hopes this week, the ninth circuit, the reversing by the judge that wanted to lift the ban on assault weapons in california, we have seen through data that states with gun-control have

fewer deaths. we have to do more as a nation, but that is a start. in oakland, it that we go back to the strategy, cease-fire, community led strategy that over the last few years helped us cut gun violence in half, police staffing is so low now that it is compromising our ability to deliver on the proven strategy. >> i want to talk more about prevention, mayor, any word on the police department or city leaders, you know, lake merritt was packed with police. it was even an opd helicopter that was hovering over top of the celebration that was happening there. the shooting still occurred. there was a loss of life. what more can law-enforcement do for things like this? >> the cease-fire strategy invests in communication and interrupting retaliatory violence particular between

groups and gangs, which is, what the information is that was behind the last tragedy. it uses enforcement as a last resort, but it has, in oakland, cut gun violence in half up to this last tragic year. but we are compromised in this ability both to answer the 911 calls that people continue to make calling for police response as well as the cease- fire strategy, which, when it was successful, this department had 30 more officers. right now, the council president, he keep -- he represents the area, he has a proposal that could get past by the city council this thursday at 10:30 to further reduce police staffing. i believe that is going in the wrong direction. just yesterday, councilmember lord taylor -- moran taylor

allowed a proposal that would allow new violence prevention methods and alternative response, but also not let the current staffing levels further deplete. i hope that people support proposal, but people need to be heard. they need to weigh in. they need to contact city council. >> i want to ask you more about what the counter to what you have offered. it includes the number of police academies, putting more in police prevention and macro, a civilian response program, talk about what your proposal is and may be why investing in more preventative resources and social services is not as much of a focus as police. >> know -- it is just as much of a focus.

i support investments in macro, violence prevention, it is a huge priority of mine. i believe we can do both. we can invest in these new prevention methods which i fully support and have championed forever. we cannot deplete the current safety safety net we have in place now and has been proven to reduce violent crime and prevent it when it is done in collaboration with community and services. we can and must do both, build these new systems, but at the same time, not take away the very safety net we have right now. council member taylors proposal would do exactly that. that is what i support, doing both. >> let's talk about oakland's police chief. he says he is looking forward to tomorrow when president joe biden is set to unveil his anticrime policy on gun safety. what tangible outcomes are you

expecting from that announcement? >> oakland has often been a model for successful holistic approaches for gun violence. we expect to see new grant opportunities. oakland is ready to compete for the federal funding. to build on what has worked for us in the past and further integrate new strategies we are hearing from the community that we are hearing from our chief of violence prevention who is a social worker, not a trained police officer, this holistic approach that both intercedes in the violence we have today as well as invests in really safeguarding and protecting young people from getting into a pass that could lead to dangerous choices, we have to do these things and we believe the biden administration has the right approach in doing both. >> let's talk about the oakland

a's. the city is saying there are ongoing negotiations. the oakland a's say they are not part of this. what is going on with that? >> i'm not sure what they mean by that. i certainly talk to the oakland a's all the time. certainly, negotiations are going on around a new term sheet, one that the city can support that does not put the general fund at risk, but is reasonable, it promotes what they have already committed to as a privately financed ballpark and new development of the waterfront while using the funds generated by the project itself to make investments -- things we need right now, improvements to transportation, valuable, affordable housing, all the community benefits that people deserve as part of such a once in a generation project like the oakland a's are proposing. you know i am so excited about

this new ballpark. >> let's talk about the pitch that was made to alameda county. the county says it needs until september to run some numbers. can the council vote without the commitment? if you could clarify about the fact that this vote is nonbinding, what exactly does that mean? >> it is part of the normal complex deal like this forward the financial terms. early on, before everything else has been settled, at which time, a lot of the financial vehicles like the enhanced infrastructure financing district which is a major part of our financing toolkit would be approved. that would be farther in the future. now, the strategy, how we move forward, we consider it a positive sign that the county has directed the independent financial analysis and has committed to bring the vote

back once the analysis is completed. we know that this is a great deal, not just for oakland a's fans, but for the entire region for generations to come because of all the community benefits and improvements that the project will help make happen. >> thank you. we covered a lot today. as always, we thank you for joining us. >> that is a fascinating conversation. we appreciate them for that. fo coming up, we will dig into the coast guard rescue of a marin man who tried

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up rescuing him. a lot of people were upset at the kayaker because of the $42,000 price tag, for joining us to talk about this search and rescue coordinator is chief leo was a powwow, i hope you are -- i hope and sing your name right. >> you are. >> they said this would cost $42,335. is that correct? how does that cost get calculated? >> that is really just an estimate. in certain circumstances, the coast guard charges people for rescue. the only time they will do that is if someone went on the radio and made a false distress call. that person, we found them, we found they would be liable for the entire cost of the rescue. we are taxpayer-funded. the coast guard gets about $1 billion a year for search and rescue, 11 mission sets of the

coast guard. that's where the money comes from. it comes from from from from fr american taxpayers. >> that was my next question, where does this money come from? $42,000 for one man's misadventure seems like a big price tag. >> from my perspective, we are tasked with assisting mariners in distress. our primary focus is doing what we can to get the person to safety. >> does any of the on the person rescued, on the kayaker, for instance? >> absolutely, americans pay taxes. that is how the cost -- >> that means we are all controlling and paying for it. >> no specific amount of money will be charged to this -- >> no, ma'am. >> often do you do rescues like

that? >> nationally, 15,000 search and rescue cases in the last year. that's what we did. we saved 4000 lives. we are colossally proud of brothers and sisters who do the work day in and day out. i work with heroes every day. we had 1600 rescue cases and saved 250 lives. >> you guys do incredible work. we are very thankful for you. no one is questioning the work you do. i think people are having fun online, a little snarky, saying this guy tried to do a crazy thing and kayak to hawaii. he is charging taxpayers $42,000. one person wrote to the chronicle, why should we foot the bill for his narcissistic waste of time? you might understand why taxpayers might be annoyed.

>> i don't really take a position on that. like i said, it is one of our missions to do this. we have been doing it since 1790. it's been a lifesaver and being a guardian in the way that we do. that is not something i think about personally as an organization. >> what was this rescue like? was it dangerous for the cruise that responded? >> thank you for >> if someone calls 911, the dispatcher relays the call for the coast guard. once we become aware someone is distressed, we take the information and gather, then we launch our assets. in this particular case, he called us on a marine radio, channel 16, and we dropped into action. it was quite a distance

offshore. i wouldn't characterize it as more dangerous than any other mission we do. we do those missions all the time. we train for them. we take that risk very seriously. because of that, we launched into station san francisco helicopter right there at the airport. we also launched a fixed wing airport -- aircraft. both of them were able to do the rescue safely. >> fantastic, even the kayaker was safe. we are all rooting for him. we are glad you guys were able to save

okay, thk tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. authorities say the highly contagious delta variant is spreading quickly in the u.s. doubling in just two weeks. tonight, dr. fauci now saying this is currently the greatest threat in the u.s. in trying to end this pandemic. this evening, the white house now conceding we will not hit the president's goal for the fourth of july vaccinations. so, when will we? and the late headline as we come on tonight. more than 150 hospital workers reportedly resigning or terminated because they were told they had to get the vaccine. also breaking as we come on the air, the senate vote involving that sweeping election reform bill. democrats united tonight. moderate joe manchin on board on the bill they say would protect voters' rights, making election day a national holiday so americans can get to the polls. mi