The Week in Philly from KYW Newsradio

Coronavirus cases among inmates in Philadelphia continue to rise, but there's no official word on how the virus is affecting the staff at the city's prisons. Today on KYW In Depth, Cherri Gregg brings us up to date on the pandemic in Philly prisons and talks to Eric Hill, a corrections officers' union leader about his call for more transparency about COVID-19 infections among staff and more effect...

If you're a Pennsylvania resident out of work because of the COVID-19 pandemic and you lost your health insurance, you could qualify for Pennsylvania's medical assistance program. Catherine Buhrig, Bureau of Policy Director from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services joins KYW in Depth for a Q&A about who is eligible for PA Medical Assistance, how to apply, what's the maximum income you...

Health officials say you should wear some kind of cloth mask or bandana outside during the coronavirus pandemic. Around the country, people are making homemade masks for themselves, family members, and friends. But Montgomery County Commissioner Dr. Val Arkoosh says if you're not careful, you could end up doing more harm than good. Today on KYW In Depth Dr. Arkoosh explains how to properly wear, t...

This is the last of our three episode mini series about how this pandemic has played a role in changing how we live in the little, day-to-day ways we don't always pay a ton of attention to Ursinus Professor of Psychology Cathy Chambliss joins KYW In Depth to break down how our attitudes toward public health have shifted and how they might continue to change, how introverts and extroverts are deali...

This is the first of three episodes about how this pandemic that has totally upended all the big things in our lives is also changing the day-to-day little things. Assistant Professor of Marketing at La Salle University Meghan Pierce joins KYW In Depth to talk about how coronavirus is changing our relationship with our things, whether we could see a large shift in consumer behavior as a result of...

This is episode 2 of 3 in our mini-series about how this pandemic is changing how we live, not just in big broad strokes, but in little ways too. Professor and Chair of the Communications Department at Villanova University Heidi Rose joins KYW In Depth to break down how the ways we communicate, interact, and relate to each other are changing during this pandemic, and if any of these adaptations mi...

For people battling addiction, the social isolation brought on by the COVID-19 response can mean a dangerous diversion from the routine of meetings, support, and accountability. Some facilities and groups are turning to online meetings, but is that enough? Jerry Stahler, a clinical psychologist and professor in Temple University’s Department of Geography and Urban Studies joins the podcast to brea...

The Origami Mask Project was created by engineers and scientists in the Philadelphia area to develop simple, inexpensive, DIY face masks while there continues to be a shortage of personal protective equipment caused by the coronavirus pandemic. University of Pennsylvania Material Sciences and Engineering Professor Shu Yang and President & CEO of Archimedic Eric Sugalski join KYW In Depth to ta...

The Red Cross says there's an urgent need for blood donations during the coronavirus pandemic, as blood drives have been cancelled and social distancing has kept people inside. There's also a need for plasma donations from people who have recovered from COVID-19, in the hopes that their antibodies can help very sick patients fight off the virus. But not everyone who wants to donate is allowed to,...

Alyssa Kirk is a nurse spending her time volunteering at a COVID-19 testing center at Citizens Bank Park. She joins KYW In Depth to describe what the day to day is like at a drive-through testing center, how the volunteers and medical professionals doing the work are holding up, and what this pandemic looks like from the perspective of someone spending every day interacting with people who think t...

Managing mental health can be tough in the best of times. But right now, as millions are being laid off and told to stay at home for the forseeable future, stress levels are through the roof and people can quickly find themselves in crisis. Amy Federer with The National Alliance on Mental Illness Philadelphia joins KYW In Depth to discuss ways you can manage your own mental health or help your lov...

Six states have now moved primary elections to June 2nd, including Pennsylvania. The Keystone State will also allow polling places to be consolidated for the upcoming primary. University of Pennsylvania Political Science Professor Marc Meredith joins KYW In Depth to break down how these changes, expanded mail-in voting, and the coronavirus pandemic might impact voter turnout, campaigning, and the...

This pandemic has changed the way we live and is causing an incredible amount of stress. People are worrying about getting sick, about losing income, and we're all being told to stay at home. For people who are now spending all their time at home with abusive partners, the situation is dangerous. Beth Sturman is the executive director at Laurel House, a comprehensive domestic violence agency servi...

Can looking at recessions from the past help us get an idea of what the recovery from the coronavirus recession might look like? Tristan Potter has studied the Great Recession extensively, he's an Assistant Professor of Economics at the Drexel LeBow College of Business, and he joins KYW In Depth to help answer a few questions about what the other side of this crisis could have in store. See omnyst...

The unemployment numbers released Thursday, April 2nd are staggering. More than six million people applied for unemployment benefits last week, and that number is going to rise. Right now, people who are being furloughed or laid off are wondering if their jobs will be there for them when the pandemic is over, or if they'll be able to get another job at all. Diane Lim, Director of Outreach and Seni...

The Trump administration is giving hundreds of millions of dollars to SEPTA as part of emergency grants to public transportation across the country. SEPTA has seen an unprecedented drop in the number of riders because of coronavirus shutdowns. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao spoke with KYW's Ian Bush on Thursday afternoon, April 2nd, to announce that $700 million dollars will be heading to Ph...

Hospitals and first responders everywhere are sounding the alarm: they need more protective gear to fight COVID-19, and they need it now. How did our equipment supply get so scarce, so quickly?  Today on KYW in Depth we're joined by Joe Tibbs, President at HAPevolve, a subsidiary of The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania. He helps us understand why hospitals don't have enough ge...

6.6 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week. Villanova Assistant Professor of Practice in Economics David Fiorenza joins KYW In Depth to help us make sense of the numbers and talk about how long he thinks the unemployment rate will continue to go up, how high the unemployment rate could go, and how many of the jobs that are gone now might not be coming back. See omnystudio.com/pol...

Hospitals in Philadelphia and around the country are treating COVID-19 patients while dealing with severe shortages of protective gear. It's a serious problem that will only get more challenging as the number of cases continues to rise. Judy Lubas and Gabi Yankelevich are two of the many medical students in Philadelphia who are taking on that challenge by volunteering their time and energy during...

In general, we probably don't pay enough attention to supply chains -- how products and services get made, delivered, sent from A to B to wherever someone needs them. But supply chains are incredibly important, a fact that we all suddenly realized when word first started spreading that we might not have enough personal protective equipment and medical supplies to get through a global virus pandemi...

"I'm sure there's plenty of Americans going through similar cases, but when it’s happening to you, it's a little surreal." Montgomery County was initially one of the hardest-hit counties in Pennsylvania battling the coronavirus crisis. For the first people in the county who tested positive weeks ago, when we knew even less about the virus, the uncertainty just added to the scariness of this pandem...

A lot of the attention during the coronavirus pandemic has been on big cities, where dense populations mean faster spread and more patients. But that doesn't mean that the danger posed by COVID-19 is any less in the suburbs or more rural areas. David Madonna is the Chief of Police in Prospect Park, a small borough in Delaware County, PA. He joins KYW In Depth to talk about the ways the job has cha...

Can looking at the before and after of different calamitous events in history give us an idea about what life after the coronavirus pandemic might look like? University of Pennsylvania Assistant Professor of History Brent Cebul joins KYW In Depth to break down one of the most important times of disruption in American history, the Great Depression, and take a closer look at the political, societal,...

One of the riskiest jobs right now is being done by the people who respond to 911 calls. EMTs, paramedics, and first responders are spending their days and nights getting sick people the medical care they need. So how does that already incredibly difficult job change when protective gear across the globe is backordered, and you're not sure how long your supplies are going to last or if you'll be a...

The COVID-19 pandemic comes on the heels of a national outbreak of lung injuries, which the CDC says are linked with vaping THC products and the additive vitamin E acetate. Dr. Jamie Garfield, an interventional pulmonologist at the Temple Lung Center joins KYW In Depth to talk about what we learned from the EVALI epidemic, the latest research about what both vaping and smoking does to the lungs an...