1/17/25: COVID-19 mutual aid groups keep Los Angeles-area residents safe during wildfires

In this episode: Los Angeles-area COVID-19 mutual aid groups jumped to action to minimize the impact of wildfire smoke (and COVID!) as wildfires worsen air quality. Mask Bloc LA distributed over 43,000 masks in the first week of the wildfires. Freelance reporter and Long COVID patient advocate Sam Rhodehamel talks with producer James Salanga and co-hosts Miles Griffis and Betsy Ladyzhets about the groups filling public health gaps to keep residents protected during the devastating wildfires. Also in this episode: another NIH RECOVER-Treating Long COVID update, more proof portable air filters help mitigate airborne disease, and the latest COVID-19 trends. The transcript for this episode is available on The Sick Times' website. You can jump to specific sections of the episode and transcript below: (00:00:00) Intro(00:01:21) COVID-19 trends(00:06:55) L.A. COVID-19 mutual aid groups fill public health gaps during wildfires(00:18:22) Research: Portable air filters' effectiveness reaffirmed, NIH RECOVER-TLC update(00:23:55) Outro-Mentioned in this episode (in order of appearance): The Sick Times: National COVID-19 trends, January 14 CDC wastewater dashboard Biobot wastewater risk reports WastewaterSCAN dashboard The Sick Times: Wastewater surveillance for COVID-19 keeps evolving. Here's what you need to know. The Sick Times: COVID-19 advocates are distributing masks to protect Californians from wildfire smoke Support Mask Bloc LA Help Clean Air LA bring purifiers to LA residents  The Sick Times: Research updates, January 14  Still Here: Recapping the NIH RECOVER-TLC Kickoff The Sick Times: “A good step”: Long COVID advocates and researchers respond to the RECOVER-Treating Long COVID meeting NIH: Submit therapeutics and biologics NIH: Submit interest to join a working group NIH: Submit biomarkers for Long COVID NIH: Provide general feedback on the initiative  NIH: Recover-Treating Long COVID websiteAdditional audio in this episode:  Rude Mechanical Orchestra: Which Side Are You On? (orig. Florence Reece) Pixabay: Thunder and the beginning of rainfall