COVID-19 CDC (Mostly) Walks Back Testing Guideline Changes | Who's Policing The Police? | "Donald Trump and the RNC are negligent, period"

 Flamingo at San Diego Zoo (Taken 1.20.2020)

I finished this post in the afternoon but had to wait for the County's statistics to post and then got distracted with a nap, making dinner, watching World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji, however reluctantly because producer Mark Burnett is a piece of shit. Still, the images are stunning and something about this pandemic has made me slightly obsessed with survival/outdoor shows in addition to the remodeling/backyard shows I've also been watching.
Obviously today was the last day of the RNC, and obviously I didn't watch. Time to keep moving forward and brace for whatever else comes our way this year and look forward to the election when we can finally imagine life out of this berserk hellscape. The good news was that the CDC walked back their guidelines that asymptomatic but exposed people didn't need to be tested. The bad news is that you still have to just look our for your own health, as increasing numbers of businesses, schools, health officers, and various jurisdictions refuse to share positive cases, even when people may have been in close contact. 

• Watchlist:
• Sometimes Always Never - Hoopla 
  Bill Nighy is great in this film about the complicated relationships of a father and his sons with a backdrop of a Scrabble obsession. Loved this film.
• Safety Not Guaranteed - Netflix
  I don't think I've ever seen a Mark Duplass movie that I didn't like. In this movie, three journalists seek to interview a man who believes he can time travel, finding love, and reconciling past regrets with the present.  
• The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet - Amazon
  This is a super cute PG movie about a super smart kid who travels cross-country on his own to collect a prize from the Smithsonian for his perpetual motion invention and the adventure along the way. Kinda reminds me of Little Man Tate as he becomes exploited. 
• California COVID-19 Stats:
• 4,430 New Cases/683,529 Total Cases (0.7% increase)
• 143 New Deaths/12,550 Total Deaths (1.2% increase)
• 6.1% 14-day test positivity rate
• San Diego County Stats
• State Data:
• 3,829 New Cases (Last 14 Days)/37,224 Total Cases
• 60 Deaths (Last 14 Days)/668 Total Deaths
• 113.6 cases/100k population 
• 4.8% Test Positivity (Last 14 Days)
• County Data:
• 277 New Cases/37,499 Total Cases 
• 5 New Daily Deaths/673 Total Deaths
• 80.6 cases (80.6 State Reporting)/100k population 
• 5% Daily Test Positivity/3.7% Test Positivity (14-day average)
• Case Investigation is 96%
• 3 New/20 Community Outbreaks (7-day)
• COVID-19
• CDC director walks back change in coronavirus testing guidelines - The Hill (8.27.2020)
• Ergodyne Clarifies Neck Gaiter Findings with Help of Study Authors - Ergodyne (8.24.2020)
  Dr. Warren S. Warren and Dr. Marvin Fischer (co-authors of the study) clarified with both Ergodyne and the media that the intention of the study was to evaluate a particular method of testing—not provide a definitive ranking on the efficacy of each mask type. When asked if the public should interpret the study’s findings to indicate neck gaiters are “worse than nothing”, Dr. Fischer answered, “Absolutely not.”
• Covid Gag Rules at U.S. Companies Are Putting Everyone at Risk: Employees say the biggest names in American business have banned them from alerting others to coronavirus outbreaks - Bloomberg Businessweek (8.27.2020)
• Covid in the Classroom? Some Schools Are Keeping It Quiet: Some states and school districts provide detailed data on school outbreaks. Others choose to keep such information under wraps. - New York Times (8.22.2020)
• News:
• Arson Suspected Cause of USS Bonhomme Richard Fire, Source Says: The investigation into the fire is ongoing, however a sailor has been identified as a potential suspect - NBC San Diego (8.26.2020)
• Racial & Social Justice
• The Crisis in American Law Enforcement Is Heading Into a Perilous New Phase: This cannot go on. - Esquire (8.25.2020)
• The police shooting of Jacob Blake, explained: Two people were fatally shot Tuesday, as the city of Kenosha, Wisconsin, experienced a third night of unrest. - Vox (8.27.2020)
• This Is Not a Recipe for ‘Order.’ It’s a Recipe for Chaos. The words of Tucker Carlson and Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis are profoundly dangerous. - Esquire (8.27.2020)
• Many California police reform efforts have stalled despite push from George Floyd protests - LA Times (8.27.2020)
• 350 Action Associate Policy Director Natalie Mebane gave the following response to the RNC: “Donald Trump and the RNC are negligent, period. The sharp juxtaposition between what came out of RNC speakers' mouths this week and the compounding crises of health, racial injustice, and climate disaster that Americans are facing is further evidence of how preposterously out of touch the party is. The Administration’s persistent climate denial, environmental rollbacks, and propping up of the fossil fuel lobby is putting our communities at risk. While Donald Trump and Republicans toy with our lives for political gain, spreading disinformation and stoking the flames of racism, hate and division, thousands of people are being displaced by hurricanes and wildfires, COVID-19 continues to spread, and police brutality continues rampantly. We cannot afford four more years of Trump. We need socially and economically transformative leadership towards a Just Recovery now.”