COVID-19: If You Love Your Friends & Family, Stop Seeing Them | COVID-19 Scams | I Got In A Dumb Facebook Fight

Elephant at San Diego Zoo Safari Park (Taken 8.6.2020)

We had a super fun night in the speakeasy last night and I ended up staying up until after the sun was up, so when I did finally sleep, it was well into the afternoon. When I awoke, Darren and Nova had chopped vegetables and started the grill, so we spent the whole day enjoying the yard and my neighbor's loud ranchera music as they did the same. 

I am happy to report that my parents asked that my cousins cancel their visit because they didn't feel comfortable with the fact that they flew in and because Indiana is having high numbers, too. Plus my cousins are super religious, so chances are probably pretty high they've been attending mass during all of this mess. I'm proud of my parents for putting their health first, though it does beg the question, are they reading my blog? Years ago my mom condemned my frequent F-bombs ("You're smarter than that. Use your words.") but they really haven't mentioned my site in ages. Regardless, I'm glad they made the call, painful as it must've been, since the Indiana cohort of my family really doesn't make it to California all that often and we love when my LA cousin visits since she lived with us while she was in high school, so we have more of a sibling relationship. 

In other news, I was called a Karen today on Facebook. Probably not the first time and probably not the last. Basically I commented on a San Diego Zoo Safari Park post that I appreciate their safety measures but wish they'd implement the Disney rule of eating and drinking only when stationary and about the idiot mom whose kid was hacking all over us a few weeks back while inhaling a bag of cheetos and not wearing a mask by the elephant mesa. I was told that if I feel unsafe with someone coughing, I should just stay home. Um, okay, numnuts. That's exactly what we're supposed to be afraid of during a GLOBAL PANDEMIC of a RESPIRATORY VIRUS. My next comment won't be very nice, so I'll refrain, but sometimes I wonder how it must be kind of awesome being so completely blissfully ignorant. Must be nice. Anyway, today's stats after the jump plus a couple reads and my Facebook fight.  

Lovingly, 

Karen

• California COVID-19 Stats:
• 7,371 New Cases/545,787 Total Cases (1.4% increase)
• 178 New Deaths/10,189 Total Deaths (1.8% increase)
• 6% 14-day test positivity rate
• COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO COVID-19 STATS:
• State Data:
• 5,681 New Cases (Last 14 Days)/31,781 Total Cases
• 62 Deaths (Last 14 Days)/586 Total Deaths
• 168.8 cases/100k population 
• 9.9% Test Positivity (Last 14 Days)
• County Data:
• 551 New Cases/32,330 Total Cases
• 7 New Daily Deaths/593 Total Deaths
• 111.6 cases (109.7 State Reporting)/100k population 
• 6% Daily Test Positivity/5.5% Test Positivity (14-day average)
• Case Investigation is 88%
• 2 New/ 20 Community Outbreaks (7-day)
• COVID-19 Reading:
• If You Love Your Family, Stay the Hell Away From Them: U.S. Coronavirus Outbreaks Are Increasingly Tied to Small Family Gatherings. People are letting their guards down while visiting loved ones, and it's putting them—and everyone else around them—at risk. - Vice (8.7.2020)
• COVID-19 Scams Are Everywhere!!
  My mom was trying to buy a new shed for her backyard. She found one for the unbelievable price of $100! So of course she bought it. And of course it was a scam. Fortunately PayPal returned her money, but not before a web search revealed dozens of people falling victim to the same scam.
  We've also heard of tons of internet scams with fake N95s, dangerous hand sanitizers (and people dying from ingesting them), and people taking orders and simply not fulfilling orders. It should go without saying that you should trust any seller before you buy online. 
  At the Casbah, we've had to decline and report dozens of "livestream" events that seem to be phishing scams that basically mirror all of our originally scheduled live events and makes them "LIVESTREAM IN HD AUDIO!!" and people have paid money for the privilege of basically watching an old YouTube performance if you get to watch anything at all.
  It should be no surprise that when crises hit, like an international pandemic, crooks immediately seize the moment (including our administration) with schemes and plots to get rich off of other peoples suffering, and this is happening now with fake contact tracing scams. See Assemblymember Todd Gloria's e-mail below. 

A Message From Todd Gloria:

Consumer Alert: Contact Tracing Scams

Scammers are at it again. Their latest scam is to pose as COVID-19 contact tracers. These scammers are contacting Californians by phone, e-mail and text.

To avoid falling victim to this scam, the California Department of Justice offers some tips and precautions:

• Real contact tracers will only ask you about your medical symptoms and the people you may have been in contact with.
• Real contact tracers will never ask for your Social Security number, financial or health insurance information.
• Real contact tracers will not ask about your immigration status.

If someone claiming to be a contact tracer asks for any kind of financial information or tries to charge you money, it is a scam! Please report it.

If you believe you have been the victim or target of a scam related to COVID-19, please immediately file a complaint at www.oag.ca.gov/report. For more information on how to protect yourself from scams, please visit the Attorney General's COVID-19 Consumer website.

Hybrid Schooling May Be the Most Dangerous Option of All: It's supposed to be the perfect compromise between in-person and online education. It could end up as a public health nightmare. - Wired (8.6.2020)