CoViD-19 California Announces Oversight Group For Vaccine Distribution | High Winds Kick Up More State Fires | SDUSD Announces Phase II Reopening Plan For January

 

Ficus & Kiwi for National Black Cat Day (Taken 2.21.2020)

Today I read an article from a conservative website that said that all the polling is wrong and the covidiot-in-chief is going to win in a landslide and I feel like I've been having low-level anxiety all day, so I've been trying to distract myself. We watched  Us Kids last night, a documentary about the kids from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High who were thrust into gun activism after their school was shot up by a classmate. Tonight we watched I Am Woman on Netflix which was meh and hard to watch because her husband is such an asshole but I also never particularly like the anthemic song from which the movie gets its title.
I wish I had more exciting news to write today, but other than getting my vote confirmation from the San Diego County registrar, nothing too noteworthy happened today. We're really laying low around the house through at least the weekend but maybe on the first we'll head back to the Zoo or Safari Park after our long hiatus. I took notes on today's state media briefing and the SDUSD media briefing so you don't have to. 

• State of California Governor Gavin Newsom Press Conference
• California experiencing extreme weather/high winds. Increased fire danger. 
• Wildfires
• 4.2 million acres burned
• Still fighting 14 complexes
• 31 fatalities
• 9,358 known destroyed structures
• Silverado (Irvine) fire went from 2k to 11k in 24 hours 5% contained
• Blue Ridge (Yorba Linda) fire is 7k acres 0% contained
• 6 of top 20 fires in California history are from 2020
• Vaccines
• California Vaccine distribution Scientific Safety Review Workgroup will be joined by Oregon, Washington, and Nevada
• Drafting Guidelines Workgroup:
• Determine guidelines for prioritization & allocation of vaccine supplies
• Experts in immunization, geriatrics, ethics, epidemiology, health equity, pharmacy practice
• 3 Pillars: Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, Drafting Guidelines Subcommittee, third will be announced
• COVID-19 Vaccination Planning
• California COVID-19 Stats:
• 3,188 New Cases/904,198 Total Cases (0.4% increase) 
• 4,303 7-day average | 3,699 14-day average
• 4.7% increase in hospitalizations (14-day)
• 5.9% increase in ICU (14-day)
• State had steady declines in hospitalizations but now they're increasing again 
• 43 New Deaths/17,400 Total Deaths (0.2% increase)
• 2.9% 14-day test positivity rate/3.3% 7-day positivity rate
• Media Questions:
• State is confident with current data. There's an oversight committee as well as a redundancy group. State has transitioned to new Quality Assurance data system over the weekend. Confident that backlog is caught up. LA data is up-to-date and accurate
• Scientific Safety Review Workgroup will not cause delays for vaccine distribution. Will objectively review vaccines by data, not by arbitrary political deadlines. State is working with FDA and CDC. State won't duplicate or replicate trials, but experts will look at data.
• Theme parks and businesses nearby are bitching about tier system. COVID-19 case rates should be concerning for everyone worldwide. Response and guidelines have to address unique situations by park and by county. State will be driving by public health and science. 
• Mail ballots were appropriate to safely conduct an election for state. Was not just executive order, but supported and codified by legislation. State also provided for ample alternatives for voting. Executive order didn't overstep. 
• Advisory groups are not going to interfere with state autonomy.
• San Diego Unified School District Media Briefing
• No known outbreaks yet among any SDUSD schools
• Safety protocols will be available online by school 
• Phase 1 is still ongoing. Phase 2 can't happen until all schools are compliant. 
• Staying with science-based approach
• Phase 2 will begin January 4th for elementary. Middle and High School will begin on January 5th which is the start of 3rd quarter.
• Elementary will be divided by a.m. and p.m.; middle and high school will attend 2 days/week. 
• Plan could change if we continue to see virus spreading and expanding in community. 
• Opinion: Bars and restaurants shouldn't have opened before schools. 
• Phases 3 & 4 won't be discussed because that is full reopening and would require further expanded testing and contact tracing
• School board anticipates that county will move back into purple tier in coming weeks which could change/scrap entire plan
• Students/faculty tested biweekly would be able to reduce cases by 90%
• Must have a plan so as not to be caught flat-footed, but drastic changes in virus spread would scrap Phase 2 plan 
• Will Huntsberry claims "evidence is clear" that school reopenings are safe. Barrera shut him down solidly that evidence is mixed nation and county-wide and that school districts that are open aren't testing regularly. District knows that cases will come onto campuses. District needs to know that those cases don't then spread. 
• SDUSD Phase Programs 
• UCSD Guidelines for reopening schools by UCSD 
• San Diego County Stats
• State Data:
• 358 New Cases/54,957 Total Cases
• 0 Deaths/870 Total Deaths
• 7.4 cases/100k population (Based on week ending 10/17, Assessed on 10/27. Unadjusted Case Rate Using Linear Adjustment)
• 3.5% Test Positivity (Based on week ending 10/17, Assessed on 10/27)
• 5.1% Health Equity Positivity (Based on week ending 10/10, Assessed on 10/27)
• County Data:
• County COVID-19 Case Rate Improves as Region Remains in Red Tier - County News Center
• 269 New Cases/55,210 Total Cases 
• 7 New Daily Deaths/877 Total Deaths
• 3% Daily Test Positivity/3.1% (7-day avg after 7-day lag)/2.7% Test Positivity (14-day average)
• 6.5 cases/100k population (Based on week ending 10/17, Assessed on 10/27. County is reporting unadjusted case rate per 100,000 excluding prisons. 
• Case Investigation is 96%
• 2 New/24 Community Outbreaks (7-day)
• 1 daycare
• 1 business
• Current Community Outbreaks
• restaurant bar 4
• business 7
• restaurant 4
• grocery 1
• hair salon/barber 1
• gym 1
• daycare 2
• healthcare 3
• youth sports 1
• Universities:
• SDSU COVID-19, UCSD COVID-19, USD COVID-19, CSU San Marcos, PLNU
• COVID-19:
• Fauci says 'maybe we should be mandating' masks. Here are his top 5 reasons why.- Business Insider (10.27.2020)
• Preventing the Spread of SARS-CoV-2 With Masks and Other “Low-tech” Interventions - JAMA (10.26.2020)
• The U.S. reported a record of more than 500,000 cases this past week, as the coronavirus raged across the country, especially the American heartland. - New York Times (10.27.2020)
• While this article seems to be against Newsom, it was actually my favorite part of today's State media briefing. California Governor Gavin Newsom Won’t Budge On Theme Park Reopening Rules, Refuses To Say The Word “Disneyland” When Asked About Anaheim Park - Deadline (10.27.2020)
• Herd immunity case weakens with Covid-19 the leading cause of death among young in some US regions: study. Doctors angry at US President Trump’s claim that American physicians and hospitals are inflating data, including coronavirus-related deaths. British study finds more than 70 per cent of young coronavirus patients had one or more damaged organs four months after infection
• States Begin Detailing Specific Use of 150 Million BinaxNOW COVID-19 Tests Distributed by Trump Administration - Health & Human Services (10.25.2020)
• Other News/Reading:
• Track Your Vote (California)
• This Scary Statistic Predicts Growing US Political Violence — Whatever Happens On Election Day. Two researchers claim that a single number they call the “political stress indicator” can warn when societies are at risk of erupting into violence. It’s spiking in the US, just like it did before the Civil War. - Buzzfeed (10.24.2020)

I love this.