CoVID-19: State of California Briefing Addresses Businesses & Legislation Optimism | College Sports Cancel Among COVID Spread | San Diego County Hits 1st Day Below 100 cases/100k

Today is World Elephant Day and Zuli's 2nd Birthday (Taken 7.9.2020)

I am a little disappointing today. I really wanted to go to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park for World Elephant Day, but haven't been feeling super great since yesterday. It's my own fault, we had a late night in the Speakeasy on Monday night and then I ate nothing but junk on Tuesday. I'll be fine, just need to get back to veggies and salads and backing off the processed stuff. We've actually been really good about cooking and eating at home. I think we've only eaten takeout 4 times since March, but sometimes cooking so much can get exhausting (as I'm sure everyone damn well knows by now). 

Anyway, I spent the day sleeping a lot. And I'm reading the latest from Jennifer Weiner, and I watched the very, very long media briefing from Governor Newsom, which was framed as a summary of all the things they've done for Californians as well as his wish list for what the state legislature will accomplish in the next two weeks. Since it has sooo much information, I'm gonna format the COVID-19 reading first and then the State and County stats after. Check it out, after the jump. 

• COVID-19 Reading:
• U.S. Big Ten, Pac-12 postpone fall college football, other sports, due to COVID-19 - Reuters (8.11.2020)
• Grocery workers say morale is at an all-time low: ‘They don’t even treat us like humans anymore’: Hailed as “heroes” at the onset of the pandemic, supermarket employees now say they are overworked, overwhelmed and feeling expendable again. - The Washington Post (8.12.2020)
• Politics & Other Reading
• Kamala Harris Doesn’t Have To Pick One Identity: She doesn’t fit neatly into one box, and she doesn’t need to. - Glamour (8.12.2020)
• The Nat To Stay Closed Until 2021 But Science Never Sleeps - KPBS (8.11.2020)
• State of California Governor Newsom Media Briefing
• Addressing business and small business
• We need a more inclusive, resilitent, future-proofed economy with a focus on near, medium, and long term.
• Actions to support economy:
• Jobs and Economic Recovery Task Force
• Helping with sectore specific guidance for safer reopening
• Developed "wear a mask" campaign
• Launched #ShopSafeShopLocal
• 90 members signed letter advocating for more federal funding
• Produced dozens of recommendations from 5 subcommittees
• Simplified accounting methods to reduce tax liabilities for most small businesses
• Eliminated the minimum franchise tax for all first year businesses
• Allowed small businesses to defer sales tax payments for 12 months: up to $50,000
• Extended sales tax deadlines 
• $1 billion in tax credits for 3.6 million working families
• $1 billion in additional low-income housing tax credits over last 2 years
• Signed major housing production package: 18 bills to address housing shortage and create jobs
• Pandemic Supports for Businesses
• Over 5.6 million meals served and 8,000 jobs supported through first-in-nation Great Plates Delivered program
• Waived property tax penalties for small businesses
• $75 million for small businesses that may not have qualified for federal relief
• Supporting manufacturing and small businesses through SafelyMakingCA.org
• Over 8,500 employers and 54,000 employees benefitting from workshare program
• CA network Small Business Centers: 86 active, 31 languages, 10-fold increase in finance assistance
• Pandemic Supports for Businesses
• Workers compensations for essential workers
• Paid sick leave for food sector workers
• Paid family leave for those caring for ill or quarantined family member
• Ensuring childcare for frontline workers
• Hotels for health care and agriculture workers
• Cash assistance for skilled nursing facility workers
• PPE for essential workers
• Eviction moratorium
• Mortgage forbearance negotiated with big banks
• Governor's Wishlist for legislature to pass before session ends in two weeks:
• Jobs and Workforce Training
• Accelerating state-funded infrastructure
• Unspent bonds and shovel ready projects
• Accelerating wildfire and green infrastructure projects
• Hardening energy grid
• Expanding workforce training
• Streamline permitting in hardest hit sectors
• Upgrade Technology
• Office of Digital Innovations
• Lifelines for Small Businesses
• Main Street Hiring Credit
• State tax exemptions on PPP awards
• Worker Protections Needed To Reopen:
• Worker protections - job protected paid family leave, paid sick days, workers' comp
• Helping workers isolate and quarantine
• Stronger enforcementtools to protect worker health and safety
• Expand outreach and training to employers and workers to reduce the risk of COVID-19
• Continuing major public awareness campaign
• Analysis of pandemic's impact on caregiving
• Enact stronger consumer protections
• Evictions and Housing Market Stabilization
• Enacting eviction protections for vulnerable renters & assistance for struggling property owners impacted by COVID-19
• Accelerating $300 million in National Mortgage Settlement funds, targeted to the most in-need homeowners & renters
• More quickly buld housing through the Infill Infrastructure Grant Program-Accelerate bond funds
• Build on housing production laws- Get housing built faster
• Reforms to Adapt to Pandemic Conditions
• Closing the digital divide
• Expanding broadband infrastructure
• Bring together employeees and employers to look at telework rules
• California COVID-19 Stats:
• 11,645 New Cases (6,212 Backlog/5,433 New)/586,056 Total Cases (2.0% increase)
• 180 New Deaths/10,648 Total Deaths (1.7% increase)
• Hospitalizations have decreased by 19% in past 14 days
• ICU admissions have decreased by 16% in past 14 days
• 6.2% 14-day test positivity rate
• "You can't be pro-job and anti-business." 
  
• "Businesses can't thrive in a world that's failing." Must focus on growth and inclusion. 
• Media Questions:
• When asked about replacing Kamala Harris if she's elected: It's August 2020. She would remain in office through January. Focus is on COVID-19.
• We have urgency ability to make bills that would normally start in January get extended through September 1 to address that gap.
• If other sectors open, we're going to be more cautious as well as have more enforcement of guidances and guidelines
• 100% Supports Kamala Harris (referring to her as the next Vice President of the United States of America)
• I believe it's "a Historic Blunder if we're unable to accommodate the needs of tens of millions of Americans with subsequent supplemental unemployment insurance" and $300 is not enough.  
• COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO COVID-19 STATS:
• State Data:
• 5,152 New Cases (Last 14 Days)/33,159 Total Cases
• 55 Deaths (Last 14 Days)/602 Total Deaths
• 152.9 cases/100k population 
• 9.8% Test Positivity (Last 14 Days)
• County Data:
• 236 New Cases/33,393 Total Cases 
• 6 New Daily Deaths/608 Total Deaths
• 98.4 cases (94.1 State Reporting)/100k population 
• 3% Daily Test Positivity/4.7% Test Positivity (14-day average)
• Case Investigation is 96%
• 2 New/26 Community Outbreaks (7-day)