Meet the kid who helped turn the anti-vaccine tide in California

As California’s Bay Area is weeks into its shelter-in-place order – the first in the nation – experts are seeing indications that it’s working in the fight against COVID19, but at the same time needs to continue. Health officials are seeing signs that the increase of cases could be flattening, which was the goal of social distancing, and has been giving the area more time to prepare for a spike, which other experts say is inevitable. Either way, the stay-at-home mandate is helping reduce strain on the healthcare system.

Singapore maintains its state of cleanliness through fines, public education, and an army of low-paid cleaners. Fifty years ago, the Keep Singapore Clean campaign was the first time the government used fines as a method of social control. Now that the city is wealthier, the fines aren’t as effective. Singaporeans rely on cleaners to do the majority of the work.

Utah legislators passed a bill exempting small-scale balcony solar installations from utility interconnection regulations to replicate Germany's successful approach, but the absence of national electrical standards and safety certifications have so far prevented widespread adoption and impact in the U.S.

Despite a tumultuous start to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Seattle area has one of the lowest per capita death rates of any metro area in the United States. Because of actions taken early on by government officials and individuals, they were able to save lives and prevent an economic downturn due to lockdowns. This longterm investment in public health infrastructure could be a model for other cities.

A court in Costa Rica decided that a local municipality was illegally polluting a stream and this ruling set the stage for the country to ensure that a clean and healthy environment is a human right. They ingrained this right in their constitution joining about 110 other countries that have constitutionally recognized it. Although the law is not perfect, it has allowed courts to rule that killing endangered green sea turtles is unconstitutional, for example. Costa Rica’s success with this legal pathway could be used in other countries seeking to adopt the right to a healthy environment.

South Korea has effectively crushed the curve in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic by using extensive tracking and tracing on its citizens. Using a combination of GPS tracking, monitoring CCTV footage, and even checking bank accounts to see where people visited, the government released that information publicly to track those who tested positive and warn those who might be at risk. Acknowledged as an invasion of privacy, it has also kept the country out of lockdown.

As the COVID19 pandemic continues, officials are looking ahead to the United States’ presidential election in November and considering mail-in ballots. While it is a limited-contact way of voting, it presents massive challenges in terms of scaling. Things like infrastructure, cost, and voter privacy and fraud have to be considered, which is why states are turning to those who have had some success already, like Minnesota and Montana, to learn from.

The only way to eliminate a communicable disease, such as measles, is to achieve herd immunity, but due to recent anti-vaccination campaigns, the vaccination rate fell so low that the measles resurfaced in the U.S. To combat the contagion from getting worse, California enacted laws that prohibited people from choosing not to be vaccinated.

Shortly following the 2018 Midterm elections in the U.S. House of Representatives, a group of legislators known as the Problem Solvers Caucus used their numbers to change House rules easing the passage of bipartisan legislation. After working to build consensus on issues like health care, infrastructure, gun control, and immigration since 2013, the congressional membership organization noticed that their bipartisan bills often did not receive a fair chance due to the significant power that Speaker and committee chairs held in deciding which bills advanced. Their "Break the Gridlock" reforms changed that.

In 2014, Disneyland experienced a measles outbreak that was linked back to the alarmingly low vaccination rates among Californian children. Following this outbreak, California passed a law that removed two of the most commonly used vaccination exemptions: personal belief exemptions, and conditional exemptions. Two years later, most children in California attend schools that meet herd immunity standards, and the chances of another outbreak are minimal.