Birmingham To Launch Ride Service For COVID-19 Patients
The City of Birmingham expects to launch a service this week to safely transport people to coronavirus testing sites. It’s an initiative through Birmingham Strong, a public-private civic coalition spearheaded by the city.
An estimated 12% of Birmingham residents live in a household without a car. Officials say that’s been a problem for people who want to be tested for coronavirus or who need medical care.
Starting this week, health care providers will be able to schedule free rides using an app, according to Josh Carpenter, the city’s innovation and economic opportunity director. The city trained four drivers this past weekend. Carpenter says it works like most ride-sharing services, except the entire back seat of a car is enclosed in a vinyl-type material. The material stretches over PVC pipe to create a barrier between the front and back seats.
The driver can drop off a patient, remove that vinyl, “sanitize their car and get paid to serve in that capacity,” Carpenter says.

City of Birmingham
The back seat is enclosed to keep drivers safe.
“We didn’t have a particularly effective mass transportation program before, and it’s pretty dangerous actually to transport people in buses if they think they might be COVID-positive,” Carpenter says.
He says the city worked with a company to design an app that could be integrated across local health systems so that health care workers could easily coordinate patient visits.
Drivers can also take patients to clinics and isolation housing. It’s designed for one patient at a time, but a companion can come if necessary.
Early intel assessment says Iran’s nuclear program was only set back ‘a few months’
President Trump has said U.S. strikes on Iran obliterated the country's nuclear program. An early intelligence assessment finds the strikes may only have set it back "a few months."
Memorial to Queen Elizabeth II in London will feature a bridge reminiscent of her tiara
Foster + Partners architecture firm beat out four competitors to design the memorial, which will also feature statues of the queen and her husband Prince Philip.
‘A lid on a pot’: How does a heat dome work?
"If you've made grilled cheese in a pan and you put a lid on there, it melts the cheese faster because the lid helps trap the heat," a National Weather Service official told NPR.
Long and short-term solutions to keep yourself and your home cool in a heatwave
Much of the Midwest and the East Coast are under a heat advisory or warning this week as dangerous heat continues. Here's how to stay cool.
Why is China so concerned about Israel-Iran tensions?
China is closely watching whether Israel and Iran can broker a ceasefire. Beijing gets much of its crude oil imports from Iran through a "dark fleet" of vessels to evade American sanctions.
NTSB faults Boeing for lack of safety protocols in 737 Max door plug blowout
The nation's top safety investigators concluded there were multiple systemic failures that led to a midair blowout during the flight of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max jet last year.