san diego: dialed in: CoViD-19 California & San Diego Stats | Governor Newsom Launches 30 by 30 by '30 Environmental Land Use Strategy | Don't Count On Disneyland Anytime Soon

A Golden Takin at golden hour at San Diego Zoo (Taken 10.7.2020)

This morning I made a plan for the day, which is different than usual when I kinda just go with whatever the day brings: I would sleep in, then watch the Governor's Media Briefing delayed on YouTube, watch the County briefing live, then go to the San Diego Zoo, then watch the debate, then have post-debate cocktails in the speakeasy. And I stuck to it. So I'm wrapping up here so I can cocktail downstairs.

But of course I have some things to say before I go.

First, one thing kinda slipped into Dr. Ghaly's briefing yesterday and was reiterated today by the governor: there is no "green" or "non-restrictive" tier in the foreseeable future. This means you should stock up on masks because they're going to be required indefinitely, don't plan on schools being "normal" in a pre-pandemic sense for a very long time, and don't expect those initial things that were on the old version of "Phase 4" to open anytime soon: large theme parks like Disneyland or Six Flags, large indoor concerts or arenas, and as we're seeing, movie theatres and small music venues are still going to be a long, long wait. The places that are having live events (like the comedy club downtown) are currently doing so against the public health order.

Second, that debate really cemented my adoration for Kamala Harris. I don't LOVE all of her policies or historical moves, nor do I feel that way about Biden, but the decency, belief that we can be better and do better for everyone, citizens and non-citizens alike, and shutting down that horrible, horrible man tonight was impressive. I got my ballot today and I'll be filling it out tomorrow. I'll share more of my stances since I appreciate the few friends who've reached out to ask which candidates and initiatives I'm supporting. And about that debate, do not for one second believe that a person who, on his watch as the lead on the Coronavirus Task Force has watched 210+ Americans die; who on his watch is trying to take away healthcare and Social Security; who on his watch separated infants from parents and has left asylum seekers to endure the outbreaks in horrific ICE facilities; who on his watch is defending murderous cops and denying systemic racism; who on his watch forced hysterectomies on women in ICE custody; and who on his watch is failing to support millions of Americans who are out of work and at risk of losing housing, not to mention creating such scarce pandemic support that people are forced to choose between proper isolation when they do get sick or continuing in their jobs because they can't afford not to, and on and on and on. Seriously. There is no decision to make here. Any claim to being pro-life is just show and complete and utter bullshit.

Last, I'm going to make a conscious effort to chill on my social media posts/likes/comments through the election. I have this outlet (and I appreciate those of you who still read it) but the outrage posts that retweet or repost whatever crazy thing the lunatic has said still amplify his message. I will not post any polling or comment on any such things because we know what happened in 2016 and we have to be prepared for anything. I have been snoozing and unfriending completely on Facebook at a rapid clip and I'll keep doing it to maintain my sanity.

State of California Governor Newsom Briefing

Environmental and Open Space Focus -

Codifying a framework to preserve and protect over 30% of California lands, 30% of Coastal waters by 2030 "30 by 30 by 2030"
Part of an international movement
Builds on other efforts to decarbonize our economy
Advances green energy
Governor Newsom Launches Innovative Strategies to Use California Land to Fight Climate Change, Conserve Biodiversity and Boost Climate Resilience - Office of Governor Gavin Newsom (10.7.2020)

CalFire Current Incident Reports
Media Questions:

2 people tested positive in sub-Governor office are quarantining and they're going through appropriate contact tracing. Positive cases are an Intern and a staffer at a State agency.
Governor has always tested negative. Tested on multiple occasions, most recently when president visited California.
Disney Chairman Bob Iger quit Reopening Task Force last week was not a surprise. State is going to let science and data drive reopening. Continue to work through all theme parks to create framework. None of larger theme parks will be reopening until we see more virus stability.
120 member Task Force has several subcommittees that not only create the reopening guidelines, but also created numerous economic supports for small businesses and sectoral assistance.
Hospitalizations: are always a concern, but the County is proactive with hospitals to watch fluctuations
Mike McKinnon is a fucking ignorant prick. "The metrics we are using are the appropriate metrics." - Dr. Wooten
False positives are not confirmed cases. Dr. McDonald shut Mike McKinnon down.

California COVID-19 Stats:

2,764 New Cases/831,225 Total Cases (0.3% increase)
51 New Deaths/16,228 Total Deaths (0.3% increase)
2.2% 7-day positivity rate | 2.4% 14-day test positivity rate

San Diego County Media Briefing:

Thursday is the last day to apply for County Rental Assistance. (If you have any savings at all, you do not qualify)
Don't get distracted; COVID-19 is a deadly virus
In 8 months, COVID-19 killed more than 9x than last year's flu
To get to Orange Tier, county would have to report approx 133 or fewer new cases per day for two weeks
Equity Metric:

New State Metric Focuses on Health Equity - County News Center (10.7.2020)
COVID-19 is not impacting equally
County has made effort to reach out to non-profits, Catholic church, Mexican Consulate, etc
Can be used to move to a less restrictive tier, but not to a more restrictive tier
Compares positivity rates for disadvantaged communities to the greater community positivity rates at large
Each community has a Healthy Places Index (HPI) score based on economics, education, transportation, social factors, neighborhood factors, and housing
San Diego County is 6.2% (which keeps us in red tier)

Goal is to lower testing positivity and case rates to move to less restrictive tiers
County Plan "Playbook":

Outreach and Education
Testing
Contact tracing
Isolation and Quarantine Support

Media Questions:

County is 3.5%, Equity Metric is 6.2%: Differences are because some communities have unequal resources. These take years to fix, even generations. This is not a new concept. County has done a lot but continues to do more. Awaiting state playbook.
Areas for improvement: refugees, immigrants, promotoras, LatinX, African-American communities
County actions:

Moving testing into impacted areas
Effort with contact tracers in community
Public health hotel rooms
Income assistance
Rental assistance
Wi-Fi program
Still more to do...

COVID didn't create inequities in environments. These have existed for generations.
Confident that the 806 people who died of COVID-19 were positive, but County thinks that number could be 10% higher which includes non-tested, non-attributed, and non-County residents who died in the county
What does contact tracing tell us about the inequities? People are disproportionately essential workers, rely on public transportation, denser neighborhoods, denser households, may be cross-border travelers who shop/get health care in Mexico because it's cheaper. Case investigation is helping hook people up with services that they might not know exist or that they're eligible for.

State Data:

161 New Cases/48,823 Total Cases
3 Deaths/806 Total Deaths
7.0 cases/100k population (Based on week ending 9/26, Assessed on 10/6. Unadjusted Case Rate Using Linear Adjustment)
3.5% Test Positivity (Based on week ending 9/19, Assessed on 9/29)

County Data:

San Diego County COVID Update - County News Center ()
354 New Cases/47,180 Total Cases
7 New Daily Deaths/813 Total Deaths
3% Daily Test Positivity/3.3% (7-day avg after 7-day lag)/2.7% Test Positivity (14-day average)
6.5 cases/100k population (Based on week ending 9/26, Assessed on 10/6. County is reporting unadjusted case rate per 100,000 excluding prisons)
Case Investigation is 97%
9 New/15 Community Outbreaks (7-day)

Universities:

SDSU COVID-19:

407 on-campus | 729 non-residential (13 visitors) | 1,136 Total Cases
Please note: Of the 2 confirmed cases added to the total case count today, Oct. 6, 0 are new cases. The 2 cases were previously reported to the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), but only recently identified, through continued cross-referencing between San Diego State University and HHSA, as having an SDSU-affiliation.