(bright upbeat music) - Welcome to another edition of InFocus.

I'm Rosslind Rice.

This month, we've marked anniversaries and new milestones in the COVID-19 pandemic.

A year ago, we were celebrating the first doses of vaccine being administered, and looking ahead to broader distribution of the newest weapon in the fight against COVID.

And while millions of people have been vaccinated, the death toll from COVID in the United States now tops 800,000.

Despite progress and return to more normal life, the virus continues to dominate headlines and in some cases, still guides our day-to-day lives.

That leaves many of us wondering after nearly two years of restrictions, isolations, and a myriad of new guidelines and recommendations, what will 2022 bring?

The uncertainty has many casting a wary eye to the future, but many remain hopeful there are brighter days ahead.

One of the biggest causes of uncertainty is the specter of new variants of the Corona virus.

They create a two steps forward, one step back scenario, leaving many to wonder what's coming next?

And whether they can withstand yet another wave.

At SIU researchers have been part of the effort to understand COVID.

Associate professor of biochemistry Keith Gagnon talked with us about what his lab has learned during the pandemic, and what he thinks the future might have in store for us.

(tense music) - It's been a bit of a ride.

We've been in it just like everybody else the problem is we're trying to do research at the same time.

(tense music) It was probably a couple of weeks after the pandemic that the stay-at-home order, I was watching the cases go up around the world and in the US and it struck me that this is probably not gonna go away anytime soon.

So we also began to think about if there was a way we could you know make an impact, if we could help with the pandemic response.

And I had a student who was doing some sequencing on some genomics projects and he suggested we could sequence SARS-CoV-2 genomes, there were some other groups in the world doing that, so that's what we decided to do.

And I guess the rest is history.

(tense music) Well we have a history working on a sort of gene therapies, genetic diseases, Lou Gehrig's disease is one, and also trying to make gene therapy approaches better, we, there's a technology called CRISPR which is promising for you know, gene therapy in humans to try to bring that to the next level.

So that's what we were primarily working on before.

(tense music) So it's human nature to look for patterns and we do see some, what appears to be some rhyme and reason with the emergence of variants.

But at the same time, they seem to kinda follow their own, you know, dance to the beat of their own drum a little bit.

The first major variant that showed up that alarmed us was the what's now called the Alpha variant.

At the time it was B.1.1.7, first seen in the UK, that one sort of took over, that was around this time last year close to Christmas that that was found.

That one took over and sort of slowly pushed out a lot of the other variants that were in the world, the Delta variant was the next major one that sort of took over and that one when we first saw its mutation profile in the spike gene we figured it was gonna be kind of problematic.

Of course many variants have come and gone, with different mutation profiles but that one in particular, it had some mutations we'd seen before in the Alpha variant.

So that grouping of mutations worried us a little bit.

And unfortunately we were right that one turned out to be quite aggressive.

(tense music) We primarily focus on one of the genes of the virus called the spike gene or the spike protein.

Now it's important to remember that the virus is mutating, it's acquiring lots and lots of mutations, this is a pretty much a random process.

If a mutation is bad for the virus it typically, the virus won't continue to propagate.

But if it's somehow gives it an advantage then it can kinda take over, maybe take a foothold, if the conditions are right then it will propagate and maybe become a dominant variant.

So there are thousands and thousands of genetic variants of the virus, but the ones that we're naming, they have a particular grouping of sort of new mutations, or they'll pick up two, three, four, in the case of Omicron, the new one, a pretty significant handful that are new.

We haven't seen them all together in one virus before.

So typically also that variant has to pick up some speed, that begins to edge out the competition a little bit, and then we watch it and we start to say maybe this is concerning.

(tense music) Spike gene, so what?

Well that spike protein sits on the outside of the virus and it's the first thing that ourselves see.

The antibodies that are raised when we take these vaccines are targeting that spike protein.

So if the spike protein undergoes too many changes in particular places on the protein, then we start to get concerned about its potential to impact vaccination, immunity.

(tense music) One of my concerns is that the virus will start tapping into the reservoir, the you know, children, young children who have been pretty resistant to infection.

There's reasons why that probably won't happen but I think that's something we should watch for.

(tense music) That's a tough one, you know reading the glass, the glass ball and what do we have to look forward to?

Well, unfortunately probably some more new variants, I'm hoping that we are gonna learn to live with it a little bit better.

I'm looking forward to maybe additional vaccines that don't just target the spike protein, although that may be longer coming in the future or different types of vaccines that can help address the virus in new ways.

We're looking at the release of drugs like Merck's pill, I believe Pfizer has a pill now that can stop the infection or slow it for those that are not vaccinated or who have been infected even after vaccination.

I think we can see that coming.

(tense music) Yeah we tend to personify the virus like it's got, like it's doing things on purpose, it's really just a biological, not even an organism but it's a biological entity trying to survive and propagate and it follows some simple rules that we know in terms of evolution and by the way one of the cool things about the virus in a silver lining is we're seeing the evolution of it take place in real time.

It's unfortunate, it's a terrible drama we don't wanna be a part of but we're seeing in real time how viruses evolve, and how they change and respond to their environment.

(tense music) - Professor Gagnon says the constant flow of information about how these diseases work along with how they respond to new treatments and vaccines is a great source of hope for the future.

As we turn the calendar page to 2022, uncertainty will cast a shadow over many major facts of everyday life.

Inflation, labor shortages, and supply chain issues just to name a few.

Now add to this, nearly 100,000 people in Central and Southern Illinois, don't know where their next meal will come from.

Mark McDonald binds that the Central Illinois Foodbank faces this grim fact amid all the uncertainty.

- Well Pam Molitoris here comes another local agency picking up another load of food.

And part of what we're talking about here, these, okay, let's look at these pallets right in front of us here, this happens every day I'm sure where these agencies, this from Palmyra, Illinois, this is ready to go out, this one down here is from Pleasant Plains, it's a small order but it's ready to go out.

- That's right.

We've got Maryville here.

- This is going to Maryville, that's going to Lincoln and Logan county.

A lot of them pick up, but many of them don't you have to deliver for many of them don't you?

- Actually the majority, vast majority we deliver to.

So many of our smaller agencies will come up and pick like that up, these, but many of our pantries are actually getting pallets and pallets of product at the same time.

And one of those pickup trucks is just not gonna be able to manage that kinda weight so we deliver on a daily basis.

- When COVID hit, - Yes.

- You learned an interesting, this was very, it's very inventive of you.

You found out that you really needed different kinds of vehicles didn't you?

- We found that out very quickly.

- [Mark] Yeah.

- Because you know, we say, usually with two or three trucks out on the road, but when COVID hit everything changed right?

Because if you think about it, we're supposed to social distance, we're supposed to wear the mask, how do you do that in a pantry?

You can't do that very effectively.

- [Mark] Yeah, yeah.

- So we worked with our agencies to start developing drive-through distribution, and then in turn went to smaller profile vehicles, so we could get product directly into the communities that needed it the most.

So we had one van before COVID hit, we went out and bought two more and other small profile truck and we used volunteers to deliver product.

- So that's one of the big advantages.

A man, or it doesn't have to have a CDL license to drive it.

- No, no.

- A volunteer can do the delivery.

- And typically we send two volunteers, one to drive, the other to help move product around, and I've gotta tell you, we could not have got through the last, what?

20 months now without those volunteers.

- Is that right?

Well that's good to know.

Now, Covid is not going away anytime soon as we look at the new year, it actually seems to be sort of blossoming again.

So you're gonna still be dealing with this for awhile, it's kinda part of the uncertainty isn't it?

- You know, here's the way I like to look at it Mark, yes we're gonna be dealing with it for a while, but we've had experience dealing with it now.

So from where I sit and from where our staff sit, this is just about continued adaptation.

What's working?

What's not?

You know, what can we hold on?

what do we have to go oh my goodness we got that all wrong?

So we're not recreating everything now, we're just taking the best pieces and holding on to those.

- It's gonna be a weird year though.

Your staffing issues, distribution issues, trucks, a lot of the trucking companies that deliver to you may not have the manpower to deliver when you want it.

As we look at your inventory here, how does this compare to normal?

- This is about average right now.

What we have found is, you know, we have the same issues everybody else does the supply chain, the labor issues, not knowing how things are going to happen, but what it means for us is really what we are is a logistics company with a not-for-profit mission right?

- Yeah, yeah.

- So we're used to moving food, we're used to running trucks, what we've had to do is adjust and plan farther ahead.

And then also be willing to just kind of stop in a, and turn on a dime if we have to.

You know perfect example, the other day we were supposed to have these boxes of food, well they didn't get here and we added distribution.

Well luckily we had other product that we just replaced with similar kinds of products.

So we're always thinking about how far out do we need to order food?

Because the thing we can't do is run out of food and not be able to feed our neighbors.

- Now that really gets into a question too because you've changed the way you, the kinds of foods you provide to your pantries and your partners, less canned, less processed, more dairy, more fresh.

- That's right.

- Right?

Which makes it kinda more hard because you have to keep it a shorter time right?

- It makes it more challenging.

- Can we go in?

Can we go in, let's do.

- Absolutely, we'll go into the cooler and we'll take a trip over into the- - Because this is very important for health reasons, - Right.

- And because you wanna be able to provide as fresh of food as possible.

You have gone toward, (door creaking) Dairy and- - Dairy and fresh produce.

So like if you look over here, it looks like we've got carrots here.

- [Mark] Yup.

- [Pam] We've got cheese up there, let's see what else do we have here?

Looks like we've got, I'm not sure what this is.

This is more cheese.

- [Mark] Yup.

- We've got some milk.

- [Mark] Plenty of milk, yup.

- You know, and we have been moving in this direction over time that we've accelerated.

You know, so when we look at food that we're getting out to our neighbors we basically look at three categories that we're really, really are focusing on.

One is low-fat dairy, and the other is proteins either low-fat animal protein, or you know, plant-based protein, and then fresh fruits and vegetables.

And of course we try to get grains in there, sometimes that's a little harder.

So we've really gone to a place where I think I looked at the numbers earlier today and we're at well over 50% of our product that is going out in those three categories.

- You know one issue that we haven't really touched on and you're gonna have to deal with and we don't have time to talk about right now but inflation is gonna remain high for a while.

So a lot of these people in the rural areas particularly that you serve are gonna have less money to spend and are gonna need to rely on you a little bit more isn't that right?

- I believe that's right.

And the thing that I am so proud of is we really have worked very hard in the last year and a half to go into rural communities, work with local officials, community partners, to find out what's happening in that community and help that community respond.

- Pam thank you very much, yeah.

- You're welcome.

And you know you can keep in mind too that this is a, it's not just food banks and their partners that are dealing with this, you can be a part of this too because every pantry and the Central Illinois Foodbank rely on donations as well.

InFocus in Springfield, I'm Mark McDonald.

- Food pantries and charitable organizations all over our region have marked a significant uptake in need this year.

Part of that is because so many people are out of work due to the pandemic.

Many businesses were forced to shut their doors, leaving employees uncertain how they would support themselves or their families.

But now as restrictions have started to lift, and businesses are able to be more open, owners and managers say they have trouble filling positions.

Even while some people report they're having trouble finding work.

Benji Jeffords takes a look.

- [Benji] When the pandemic hit and stay-at-home orders were installed, non-essential businesses were forced to close.

Restrictions were eventually lifted and businesses were open again, but they had to make some changes.

William Lo is the CEO of the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce and worked at his family's restaurant New Kahala for nearly 30 years.

Lo said some businesses had to change their hours of operation depending on the availability of employees.

- It's still a struggle to find you know, people to work.

It's been a tough time before COVID finding good people to work and you know, with COVID and you know, a lot of restaurants being shut down, you know, a lot of them have just switched careers.

So it's tough and it will continue being tough.

- [Benji] Mikayla Morris is a student studying broadcasting at SIU, and the pandemic made her education and employment suffer.

- I went from holding cameras and holding mics to sitting at a computer day in and day out, writing papers, writing discussions, never meeting my professors face to face, I was even out of a job because of it and that's hard for me because I had to pay bills and that was part of my routine was band, job, school, didn't get to do any of that, it took everything that I like to do.

- [Benji] After losing her job on-campus Morris struggled to find a new position.

- Submitted 10 different applications roughly nobody ever got back to me.

No emails, no calls, being like hey, we saw your application, and even when I did a follow-up call no answers, nothing.

- [Benji] Eventually Morris found a job in retail, but noticed a lack of sticking to CDC guidelines.

- I quit, I wasn't gonna be able to do that, I wasn't gonna put my health at risk when I could go and find another job or try to find another job that could probably pay me the same but actually took the CDC guidelines seriously.

- [Benji] Slaten Swords or it's also attends SIU studying sports media.

When the pandemic hit all of his classes were changed to virtual classes, but that helped him find employment.

- So I went back to my hometown which is about five hours north called Ottawa.

And I was living back home with my parents, and luckily at that point I've gone back every summer and I had a summer job always waiting for me there being a janitor cleaning up school so that job was still waiting for me even with the pandemic, it was just a lot more boring than I previously remember it being.

- [Benji] Swords says he hears a lot of people are not happy where they work.

It's becoming a little overwhelming how many people seem to be sick of their job.

At this point it feels like managers keep on reacting instead of being proactive about it and that's the frustrating part about it.

- [Benji] Lo says he understands why people leave jobs when they are not happy.

- As a staff's perspective you know sometimes that money is not worth it.

It's not worth getting yelled at, it's not getting worth, it's not worth the effort when you know, some consumers or some business owners aren't, you know, they're not as grateful, you know, that may sound bad, but I'm a firm believer of you know you gotta take care of your staff meaning that you gotta treat them like family.

- [Benji] When in-person classes resumed, Swords had two jobs on-campus but was growing frustrated with one of them.

- I was ready to quit that one.

I was just talking to the radio station at that point too, so I was like, okay, I'll just replace that job with that one and we'll be right as rain.

But, you know luckily I just thought a little bit more and was like well three jobs is better than two in terms of that money income.

- [Benji] Lo says employee shortages and overworking what employees they do have also contributes to employees quitting.

- Especially when you've got, you know, a place where, you know, you're short two or three people and then, you know management has understaffed and you know, you get fed up with being understaffed and you know, you get pressure from the owners and the managers and you get pressure from, you know, the customers and it's tough you know, it's not, it takes a special kind of person to be in hospitality.

- [Benji] But thinks things are starting to turn around.

- I think as we kind of slowly inch our way towards normalcy, I think you could, you'll kinda see more people going to work.

- [Benji] It's a trend Morris is already noticing.

- People are getting jobs, small businesses are opening back up which I'm really excited about.

- [Benji] And this gives Swords hope as well.

- I'm hoping and praying obviously that I'll find something, but you know at this point everyone's looking for something, I've noticed a trend where everyone's kinda getting older now in broadcasting so you are starting to see younger people start to step in, I'm hoping that trend continues to now and then I become that old person where someone's doing this same interview 40 years from now they're like I see Slaten Swords he's gaining up there in age maybe I can take his job.

- [Benji] For InFocus, I'm Benji Jeffords.

- It's a performer's dream to be able to have everything they need to be creative in one place.

Even before COVID, that space was hard to come by in many Central and Southern Illinois communities.

Now, that dream is coming true for some area arts organizations.

Julie Staley takes a look at a new place in Springfield for the arts to flourish.

- Closing the doors to this church means opening the doors for a whole new way of collaborating for the arts in Springfield.

(bright orchestral music) - [Julie] It's not just a transformation of space, it's a transformation of the arts.

- So it's the only dance floor like this in the state of Illinois, it's a basket weave tabletop dance floor so that the impact and the health of the dancer is at the top level that we can expect and to take care of them.

And so they have plenty of space when it comes to rehearsing and then when our musicians come, we actually have a vinyl floor that we put on top so it's ready for all the musicians and their chairs and their instruments and their music stands.

- [Julie] This unique floor is the rehearsal space for the Springfield Youth Ballet Company, part of the new Grant Conservatory of Music and Dance.

- Took two weeks to build by two gentlemen that are actually retired ballet dancers as well.

So there was a lot of love that went into building this and a lot of dancers that came to watch the process and under all the marley are their autographs and their wishes to themselves to grow as dancers on this dance floor.

- [Julie] This building used to be a church, now the same space as a conservatory is inspiring people in a different way.

- The sanctuary is our rehearsal space for music and dance and I will always call it the sanctuary because that means that word has many, many meanings, but especially to people that really feel that they're at peace with one with their arts.

(bright orchestral music) - [Julie] But there are more than dancers who will be inspired here, the youth ballet will be joined by the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and the Illinois Youth Symphony.

(bright orchestral music) - I mean it's just exciting and so nice to have one space that, I mean, especially for the youth orchestra will be able to rehearse in every week and also, you know, during the summer to have their summer camps that we offer for the youth in the community, and, you know, I really see that our education programs and growth of the community programs will really be able to blossom in this space.

- It was just really, really important to me that I became one larger entity under one roof.

And in that process I wanted to collaborate with, you know, my friends in the arts as much as I possibly can.

And this was a great way to create a home for all of us.

- I can see little receptions where the guests artists can meet our audiences in a more intimate setting and perhaps do community engagement events, master classes.

And, you know, we can do a lot of educational projects also in the space.

I, you know, even when I was just speaking now like I have ideas coming to my mind, which, and to just have, you know people like Trevor and Terin around, you know sometimes we have coffee and then you know welcomes another two dozen ideas.

(bright piano music) - [Julie] Even though the arts organizations have not completed their move-in to the building, they held a preview event in November with pianist Micah McClaurin from New York City.

Over 100 people attended.

- And it was great to have kind of our concert venue kicked off in a way that had an audience filled with people that love the space, that love music, that love dance, and to see something very exciting start in a brand new way.

- And it was wonderful to see that, you know supporters of the youth ballet came to the event, as well as we had some of our musicians there attending and just being able to bring the community together through music and through the arts.

- [Julie] Opening the conservatory has already shown that after months of being shut down during the pandemic, artists and audiences are eager to bring the arts back into their lives.

(bright orchestral music) - To keep all of our organizations alive we've gotta continue to work together.

And it just makes us all better and it makes us better artists and it makes better audience members, and I think it creates the value of a ticket ongoing is when you can constantly collaborate and grow and we can always become better artists and better people and that helps in that process.

- The staff at the conservatory is looking forward to welcoming many visitors when they have their grand opening, they're in the planning stages and the date will be announced in the next coming weeks.

For InFocus, I'm Julie Staley.

- You can follow the Grant Conservatory of Music and Dance on their Facebook page and the Illinois Symphony Orchestra at ilsymphony.org.

We're out of time for this edition of InFocus.

From all of us on the InFocus team, I'm Rosslind Rice, happy holidays, we'll see you in the new year.

(bright upbeat music)