COVID-19: Now Worse Than Ever! | County Board of Supervisors COVID Update | Doctors Urge WHO To Recognize Aerosolized Transmission of Coronavirus

Arctic Fox at San Diego Zoo (Taken 6.21.2020)

I finally caught up on sleep and woke up bright and shiny this morning. We did some upstairs cleaning, some studio cleaning, made a nice big breakfast and I've been listening to today's County Supervisors meeting and now it's just pissing me off. We knew from the beginning of this pandemic that we were looking at TWO YEARS of a pandemic if we didn't get control of it. And guess what? We didn't get control of it. Hong Kong headlines go crazy when they have TWO NEW CASES while we're normalizing 500+ new cases daily in our county alone. This thing is still fucking serious. In your youth and good health you may not end up hospitalized or in ICU or even showing symptoms at all, but the science is there that you are spreading it to other people and I'm frankly tired of everyone formulating incredibly uneducated conclusions, complaining about these shutdowns, having to wear masks, or not being able to sit in a bar or go bowling, or god forbid, not be able to go indoor skydiving or to an arcade. Grow the fuck up, let us get control of this stupid virus, wear your fucking mask. 

• Bob Lefsetz is a grumpy curmudgeon who needs to work on being succinct, but he's been firing off more missives than ever since he's been in lockdown in Los Angeles. I super related with this one from yesterday: Stop With The Optimism!  
  "People tell me how rigid their self-quarantining has been. And then it turns out they went to a dinner party, the next door neighbors are friends, they can’t have it, and you can’t get it outside and there’s no way they’re at risk. So, I ask you, who in hell is getting infected?
  We blew it. We scared everybody into staying home and then all we did was argue about the economy and push states to open too early. Like Gavin Newsom. The first governor to shut down his state, he didn’t have the courage to say no, we’re not going to reopen, so California is a hotbed of infection."
• COVID:19 — Guilt and the Breaking Point of Teachers - Medium (7.4.2020)
  "To get schools back up and running for the fall, society had only one job to do. Slow the spread of COVID:19. Instead, we chose to go mask-less, eat out at our favorite restaurants or drinks at our favorite bars, send our children off to birthday parties and club sports, and go out to find our new favorite hazy IPA..."
• AIRBORNE TRANSMISSION: The WHO, US CDC, and other experts have continually emphasized that respiratory droplets are the main driver SARS-CoV-2 transmission; however, 239 scientists from 32 countries are reportedly challenging that notion in an open letter to the WHO. The authors argue that airborne transmission may be playing a larger role in the pandemic than previously believed, which would significantly impact future prevention strategies and the resources needed to fulfill them. While droplet transmission risk can be mitigated via physical distancing and barriers like face shields and face masks, airborne transmission would mean that virus particles could linger in the air for prolonged periods of time or travel longer distances, including via ventilation systems, instead of quickly settling on surfaces. If this is the case, mask usage could be necessary in many more environments, particularly indoors, even if the recommended physical distancing (e.g., 6-foot separation) is maintained. Additionally, individuals at elevated exposure risk, such as healthcare workers, could need N95 respirators instead of surgical or medical masks.
  
  The existing WHO guidance emphasizes that aerosol transmission is possible, including during aerosol-generating medical procedures, but it is not a primary driver of community transmission. The authors of the forthcoming letter criticize the WHO’s unwillingness to address emerging evidence supporting the role of aerosol/airborne transmission. Experts broadly acknowledge the difficult task the WHO faces in developing universal guidance for the world and navigating a complex political climate on a tight budget, but some believe that the WHO should reconsider the evidence. The letter will reportedly be published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases in the coming days.
• San Diego County Board of Supervisors Meeting
• The main items this morning were for approving a new 60-bed mental health facility and then a ton of public comments about Covid-19 in general, complaints and agreement on the current shutdown public health order, and how to spend $50+million in new CARES money released by the state. There were also a couple calls to provide security for Dr. Wilma Wooten after she was doxxed last meeting while her address was broadcast during the meeting. 
• There were some new slides not previously shown in media briefings, so I'm going to post the screenshots below. I haven't found where these slides are but will keep an eye out.