Thursday, August 27, 2020

CoViD-19: CDC Doesn't Give A Fuck If You Die | California Develops New Testing Partnership | Numerous Leagues Strike For Racial Justice | #JusticeForJake

Wednesday was National Dog Day, so here's Ficus at Fiesta Island Dog Park (Taken 7.14.2020)

On Wednesday the first piece of news I read was that under pressure from the administration, the CDC changed guidelines on who should be tested, and I was infuriated. Our health should not be a political issue. I was comforted by watching the State and County media briefings where it was stated that these new guidelines do not change anything for who, how, and when tests happen within the county or the state.

But as the day went on and I dove into my emails and the news cycle, it was one more upsetting thing after another. If you don't click all the links and reading I'm outlined today, please at least take the time to watch Clippers head coach Doc Rivers talk about the shooting of Jacob Blake, who is now paralyzed from the waist down after being shot 7 times in the back by Wisconsin police. I've included his interview below. (The actual video of the shooting has been shared widely but I don't watch such things.) 

So I've been trying all night to find good news and gathered a couple cool music happenings, but I'll give them their own post so as not to contaminate it with news of this very bad, no good day. One bright spot, however, is that if you have a Chula Vista, National City, or Escondido library card (I'm sure there are other cities, too), you can now access Hoopla via app or Roku among other formats. It allows you to "check out" up to six movies monthly. I haven't fully explored but found a Bill Nighy movie that I'm gonna dive into now to clear my head. Lots of reading and links after the jump. 


If you continue to do what you've done, you'll get what you've got.

  • California Governor Newsom Media Briefing
    • Wildfires Continue to Rage
      • 700 fires still burning across the state
      • 1.3 million acres burnes
      • Overnight 423 lightning strikes/50 new fires (which have all been suppressed)
      • 7 fatalities
      • 1,690+ structures destroyed
      • 3,889 evacuees (3,041 of those in hotels)
    • New approach/partnership for testing will be available in 8-10 weeks
      • As flu season approaches demand for testing will increase
      • Currently avg. 100k tests in CA with 7-day turnaround
      • Avg cost is $150-$200 per test
      • State is partnering with PerkinElmer to build new lab in CA with full supply chain
        • Drive down costs: $47.99 up tp 40k tests/100k tests $37.78/150k $30.78
        • Will provide stability and reliability to market
        • Guarantee turnaround time for results
        • Protect essential workers & at-risk groups
        • Insurance against Flu season twindemic
        • Break supply chain logjams
      • Will add (not replace) additional 150k tests per day
      • Tests will have 24-48 hour guaranteed turnaround time
      • Contract Protections
        • Includes a Change in technology provision (meaning if there's a better, faster, or different way, state can opt-out, get lower cost, etc)
        • Best price guaranteed
        • Clawback provisions
        • If a cure is found for COVID-19, state can opt out
        • Genomics and pooled upgrades
        • Zero cost upgrade for flu package
    • California COVID-19 Stats:
      • 6,004 New Cases/679,099 Total Cases (.9% increase)
      • 150 New Deaths/12,407 Total Deaths (1.2% increase)
      • 5.8% 7-day/6.1% 14-day test positivity rate
      • 17% decrease in hospitalization
      • 18% decrease in ICU admissions over 14 days 
      • County monitor list is now 34 counties
    • New sector guidelines for reopening will be out on Friday (expect restrictions on mixing of households, new PSAs, new website with increased data)
    • When asked by a Fox affiliate about ex-wife Kimberly Guilfoyle's bullshit comments on California "respectfully defer to the next question" 
    • "You've seen that some of the quarterly profits of some of these labs, we're well past the point we need to call into question the cost to taxpayers..."
    • Response to CDC guidance "we will not be influenced by that change" "that is not the guidance we will adopt or embrace in California"
  • San Diego County Media Briefing
    • County supervisors voted to approve $6.55 Billion budget (San Diego County Adopts New Budget - County News Center)
      • $100 million for T3 strategy, food distribution, PPE
      • $24 million For county-wide extended rental assistance program, up to $1500 for two months for families in need, paid directly to landlords
      • More testing for cross-border sewage
      • More funding for mental health services
      • More funding for social justice 
      • More assistance to county cities that didn't get other assistance
      • More funding for K-12 schools for PPE and school prep for COVID-19
      • $5.4 million drug treatment and counseling for homeless transitioning out of convention center
      • $2000 income assistance for people who don't get other assistance
      • Funding for language assistance
      • Funding to "bridge digital divide"
      • "This unprecedented time calls for unprecedented action" - Fletcher
      • Schools may resume September 1st within state guidelines
        • Required testing for educational staff
        • Testing available at over 20 County-coordinated sites, including 4 no-appointment locations for anyone, inclding school personnel and youth over age 12 
        • SD County Office of Education partnership to open more testing sites regionally specifically for school staff and students
        • Students and their caregivers can get tested at Rady's
        • Tri-care and Kaiser are handling their own testing options
        • $20 million additional funding from state for testing and surveillance
      •  If case rate remains below 100/100k people through August 31, schools and higher education may reopen on September 1 under state guidelines
      • County Schools Could Reopen Sept. 1 - County News Center
    • COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO COVID-19 STATS:
      • State Data:
        •  3,837 New Cases (Last 14 Days)/36,996 Total Cases
        •  63 Deaths (Last 14 Days)/665 Total Deaths
        • 113.8 cases/100k population 
        • 4.7% Test Positivity (Last 14 Days)
      • County Data:
        • 228 New Cases/37,222 Total Cases 
        • 3 New Daily Deaths/668 Total Deaths
        • 81.4 cases (80.2 State Reporting)/100k population 
        • 3% Daily Test Positivity/3.6% Test Positivity (14-day average)
        • Case Investigation is 96%
        • 1 New/20 Community Outbreaks (7-day)/60 Active Outbreaks
        • 1601 total cases, 12 deaths due to community outbreaks
      • Superintendent of County Schools Dr. Paul Gothold
        • Still trying to make sure all students have internet access
        • Over 80,000 school employees in County
        • Testing partnerships will keep people staff 
      • State guidances are excellent and thorough, according to Dr. McDonald. Casinos have used the state templates. Casinos have had cases and outbreaks but are not in County jurisdiction. Same for military, adjacent counties, and Mexico.
      • CDC new guidelines will not affect San Diego since they're based on limited resources for jurisdictions. San Diego County doesn't feel resources are limited and new guidances won't affect us locally.
      • Once schools open, they will stay open, even if we get back on State monitoring list 
        • State metric dictates if 5% of a classroom has an outbreak, that cohort must quarantine for 14 days
        • State metric dictates if 5% of a school has an outbreak, that school must shut down and quarantine for 14 days
        • State metric dictates if 25% of school meet the 5% threshold, the entire must shut down for 14 days
        • Distance learning has been provided for students whose parents want to keep them home "irregardless" of opening
        • Can look at school waiver criteria to see what elements are required for schools to reopen
        • A team has been developed to be able to contact trace within schools 
      • Dr. McDonald: Under 80per 100k of population is still moderate to significant community transmission. We need to be well under 25 cases per 100k in population to even be close to headed to "normal" so we have a long way to go. 
      • Recommendation is that all teachers and staff are tested regularly, so new test sites and protocols will cover that. It is not recommended that asymptomatic students are tested at this time. If parents want testing, they should reach out to child's pediatrician. If they don't have a doctor, call 211 to get a test.  
  • COVID-19:
  • Climate Change:
  • Racial/Social Justice:
    • #JusticeForJake
    • 17-Year-Old Under Arrest In Connection With Shooting At Kenosha Protests - News & Guts (8.26.2020)
    • CA Senate Bill 731 (SB 731). Learn more and take action.
      SB 731 will implement a statewide system for revoking the license of police officers who commit serious misconduct, preventing bad cops who leave one law enforcement agency from being employed by any other police agency. This statewide decertification process means that cops who have been fired, or resigned while under investigation for misconduct, cannot bounce around from community to community.  It also means officers who are fired for excessive force, sexual misconduct, and dishonesty will not have the ability to continue to terrorize community members by finding a job somewhere else.
    • NBA, WNBA, MLB players boycott games in protest of police shooting of Jacob Blake and white supremacist murders of protesters in Wisconsin. Coaches, players speak out. 

Posted by Rosemary Bystrak at Thursday, August 27, 2020
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