COVID-19 Masks Are REQUIRED Statewide | California Surpasses NY In Total Cases | Burger Records Folds | Disney Closes "Eating and Drinking" Loophole

Sea Lion at Boomer Beach/La Jolla Cove (Taken 7.20.2020)

I was feeling productive today. I finished reading The Down Days. I (mostly) stayed on top of my email, an almost always impossible task. I handled some Casbah stuff in announcing the Twitch Livestream with Scary Pierre happening on Saturday night at 8:30. I happened to look on Facebook at the right time and this awesome woman listed a picnic table and chairs on my local Buy Nothing group, so she kindly chose me and we went to her house, loaded it up in the van and brought it home and unpacked it. (It often helps to say you're available for immediate pickup.) I watched the full Governor's and San Diego County media briefings. And then I took a peaceful, quiet, restful long nap. Feeling dreamy. 

After watching everything, one thing I will say though is that I don't know how I missed that facial coverings are now MANDATORY in the State. I knew it was a "guideline" and "recommended" and required indoors in certain settings, but I watch every Governor Newsom briefing and somehow I missed entirely that it became required. Anyway, I'm putting the link below because if I missed it, maybe you did, too. Or it's just irrelevant because it was already required in the County. Either way, lots of sharing after the jump. 

• COVID-19 Media Briefings
• State of California Governor Newsom Media Briefing
• State now has more cases than any state (not per capita)
• Total cases: 413,576 (+3.2% increase)
• Total deaths: 7,870 (115 New/+1.5% increase)
• Tests reported: 6,664,419
• 7.4% 14-day positivity rate 
• State continues to procure PPE, Procedure Masks & N95 Masks
• 35 Counties now being monitored 
• MASKS/FACE COVERINGS ARE NOW MANDATORY STATEWIDE: "Wear a mask! When you’re around anyone you don’t live with, you must have a mask covering your nose and mouth."  
• State needs to sharpen focus on vulnerable workers and communities: healthcare workers, essential workers, congregate living, prisons/jails, Latinx communities
• Governor encourages parents teaming together via Facebook or other methods and hopes for more parental support, more sharing ideas, more sharing of resources and best practices in the sense of community 
• County of San Diego Media Briefing
• San Diego Safe Reopening Compliance Teams 
• Will be visiting non-compliant businesses. This will be a 'carrot not a stick' approach, "but we still have the stick if we need it" 
• Egregious & flagrant business violators will have designated code-compliance officers
• County will collaborate with Cities to make sure businesses are compliant with State and County Health Orders
• T3 Strategy Test/Trace/Treat is going to be revised to match state goals with 7-day averages  
• San Diego STATS
• County COVID-19 Deaths Surpass 500, Cases Over 25K
• 9,155 average daily tests (goal >6,600)
• 9% Case Investigations (should be >90%)
• 6% 7-day average of new cases (should be under 8%, WHO recommends under 5%)
• San Diego Blood Bank is OUT of convalescent plasma. Need donors. 
• 25,107 cases in San Diego (587 new)
• 505 deaths (18 new)
• Since 6/20, cases have sharply increased
• 154.8/100k (should be under 100)
• 12 Community Outbreaks in last 7 days 
• 110 Community Outbreaks Total (Not including SNF/Congregate Settings)
• 97 new case investigators onboarding Friday
• "Racism/Social Injustice is a public health crisis." Dr. Wooten 
• Other COVID-19 News
• The virus doesn't care how bored you are. Just because something is allowed does not necessarily mean that it is safe. It’s best if people avoid engaging in activities that are enjoyable but not truly necessary when alternatives are available. We need to act based on what is true, not what we want to be true.
• The Pandemic Isn’t Over. We Need to Act Accordingly: You might be tired of living this way. But the virus doesn’t care. -SELF (7.22.2020)
• We're In Deep Doo-Doo
• The proof is in the sewage: hundreds of Yosemite visitors may have had coronavirus: No one had tested positive via nasal swabs, but researchers’ investigation tells a different story - The Guardian (7.22.2020)
• Yosemite Sewage Tests Positive for Coronavirus: Test results suggest there were dozens of visitors carrying the novel coronavirus in the park over the Fourth of July weekend - Smithsonian (7.21.2020)
• A refresher: Public bathrooms carry coronavirus risks. Here’s how to be careful - PBS (6.16.2020)
• In case you missed the Wired article last week, this needs to be reiterated: "COVID parties" are not a thing.
•  "COVID parties" are a pandemic urban legend that won’t go away - The Verge (7.22.2020)
• In the early days of COVID-19, when there wasn't a lot of testing happening, it was repeated that we should assume that there are 10x the number of cases in the community than were being officially reported. This is once again being reiterated by JAMA, even with higher test levels.
• Seroprevalence of Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in 10 Sites in the United States, March 23-May 12, 2020 - JAMA Internal Medicine (7.21.2020) 
  "For most sites, it is likely that greater than 10 times more SARS-CoV-2 infections occurred than the number of reported COVID-19 cases; most persons in each site, however, likely had no detectable SARS-CoV-2 antibodies."
• I would love to see this extended to the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park:
• Disney issued an update to its mask mandate. that prohibits visitors from eating and drinking while walking around the park in order to improve compliance with the requirement. "You may remove your face covering while actively eating or drinking, but you should be stationary and maintain appropriate physical distancing." (Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security)
• Shocking to nobody: NFLPA tells players there will be no preseason games in 2020 - NFL (7.21.2020)
• Entertainment/Recreation:
• COMIC-CON 2020 @ Home is streaming now 
• A Community-Funded Future For Kava Lounge: After an announced closure due to the pandemic, the electronic and local music community rallied around the small live music venue. - KPBS (7.15.2020)
• Things have gotten really ugly with the Burger Records debacle
• An Instagram account has been created @lured_by_burger_records documenting various stories
• Our locals, The Frights, were one of many bands named in the situation, however it seems to have been resolved between Mikey Carnavale and his accuser, Claire, who had a conversation and issued a joint statement. 
• Jessa Zapor-Gray, named interim president, went on the defensive 
• On Tuesday, Jessa stepped down with the following statement:
  In the last year and a half, I have worked with Burger and Burger artists on communications and partnerships on a contract basis.
  Over the weekend I was asked to assume the role of the label's interim president with the hope I could reform the label into something better for the good of all of you, the artists. My plan was to quickly begin assessing and evaluating if anything about the label could perhaps be salvaged and made into something better, then eventually hand off a functioning label to a future administration unrelated to the label's founders; or if I found that rebuilding was not possible, instead to organize and prepare the label for closure.
  When I was asked to take over in this capacity, I expected some blowback for my decision to accept but I believed that the opportunity to have a role in effecting real and lasting positive change within the Burger and indie music scenes was worth the risk.
  Upon further review, I have informed Burger Records that I no longer believe I will be able to achieve my intended goals in assuming the leadership role at Burger in the current climate. Therefore, I have decided to step away from the label entirely to focus on my other projects. Jessa 
• And today, Burger Records Shuts Down Completely: Following misconduct allegations, the tape label’s plan to rebrand and establish new leadership has reportedly fallen apart - Pitchfork (7.22.2020)
• You will almost never find me linking to the Reader, but today they hit a nerve in writing about the Sea Lions at Boomer Beach/La Jolla Cove. Obviously, I love it there and spend a lot of time there, so I have some thoughts on the writer's points. I definitely agree with the idea that if you're taking a selfie with a sea lion, you're too close. And I would love to see some sort of presence there of docents or rangers scolding the worst offenders who don't give the animals space. But one problem I think people have is that the seals and the sea lions are very different animals. The seals have to bounce on their stomachs for mobility, so humans approaching is more of a threat and more dangerous than it is for the sea lions. The very access points to Boomer Beach, even the wall at times, are too close to the animals if you're really supposed to maintain 150 feet. The entire Cove would close if that was actually the spirit of the law.That's a kind of ridiculous recommendation. The adolescent and adults certainly have no problem letting you know when you're too close. But yes, the babies certainly need a wide berth and more protection.  
• Stop the selfies at La Jolla Cove - San Diego Reader (7.21.2020)