Friday, March 19, 2021

CoVid-19: CDC Releases Updated Distance Guidance for Schools | CCC Votes To End ORV At Oceano | Imbecile Breaches Elephant Enclosure | Photos: San Diego Zoo |

 

Shaba the Elephant at San Diego Zoo (Taken 12.3.2020)

Today was such a nice day. The weather was perfect, Darren and I got amazing tacos from El Panson for lunch, which we ate in our backyard which is bursting with plants and color right now, and then we went to the San Diego Zoo. 

Or I should say, attempted to. The parking lot was so crowded, so we checked the site and hours have expanded to close at 6pm instead of 5pm, so we did a little lookie-loo drive around Balboa Park, the bayfront, and downtown before working our way back to the zoo and while still crowded, we got a good spot and were able to get right in and stayed through closing. It wasn't a great photo day...it was a little crowded, the light was terrible from sun to shadows, and lots of sleeping animals, but it was fun to walk around anyway. Plus there was an arrest for some dude jumping into the elephant enclosure with his toddler that was happening while we were there, though we didn't know why the cops were there until after we were home. 

After that, we went to my parents' house and got a little bit of puppy time with Roxy and brought Nova back home. Needless to say, I didn't get through much of my email today, but I'll filter through this weekend and post if there's anything I need to share. One thing I did notice, besides watching the White House COVID-19 response team briefing and the modifications to distancing recommendations in elementary schools was a couple reports that salons and personal care businesses are demanding that they should be vaccine eligible. I know it's a wide swath of people and businesses, but it struck me as a little funny that a couple months ago, this sector was demanding they be allowed to open indoors because they're so safe and following all safety protocols, and now they seem to think they're industry is so dangerous they should bump up their vaccine priority. Pick a lane. Anyway, stay safe out there. San Diego numbers are still high, the US is still testing above 50,000 new cases per day, and hot spots are rising in exactly all the places that have lifted restrictions, and now we'll see what our openings do to our cases in the days and weeks to come. 

  • COVID-19:
  • Politics:
  • News:
  • Global COVID-19 Stats (JHU 3.19.21 10:25pm):
    • 122,315,624 Known Cases
    • 2,701,445 Known Deaths
  • US COVID-19 Stats 
    • CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Data Tracker
    • JHU
      • 29,729,968 Cases
      • 541,143 Deaths
    • CDC Data Tracker:
      • 29,490,832 Known Cases 
      • 536,734 Known Deaths
      • 154,199,235 Doses Delivered/118,313,818 Doses Administered
        • Moderna  74,827,800 delivered/56,941,640 administered
        • Pfizer 75,151,635 delivered/59,214,714 administered
        • Janssen 4,219,800 delivered/2,025,349 administered
  • COVID-19 Response Team Briefing:
    • US has delivered 100 million shots across the US in just 58 days
    • Current average 2.5M shots per week.
    • 2/3 of adults 65+ have received 1st shots.
    • All adults will be eligible no later than May 1. 
    • Committed to $4B to COVAX. Expanding manufacturing. 
    • Lending releasable AstraZeneca vaccines to Mexico (~2M) and Canada (~2M). This vaccine is not currently approved in US so it will not affect US vaccine distribution.  
    • Vaccines:
      • More Supply - 22 million doses this week. By end of May, enough supply for all adult Americans (16+)
      • More Vaccinators - 6,000 federal personnel to support vaccination efforts. Currently 2,000 troops, but will increase to 6,000 over coming weeks. 
      • More Locations to receive Vaccines - 600 community vaccination sites, federal vaccination sites. 14,000 pharmacies around the country. 500 mobile clinics. Additional 700 community health centers by end of April.  
    • Schools *Should Have* been last to close, first to open. 
    • CDC is modifying school recommendations when EVERYONE is properly wearing a mask, and layered mitigations.
      • Elementary Schools must be masked and 6 ft apart inside classrooms where community transmission is low, moderate, substantial, or high. 
      • Middle and High school may be 3 feet apart inside classrooms where community transmission is low, moderate, substantial.
      • Middle and High school must be 6 feet apart inside classrooms where community transmission is high, unless cohorting is possible.
      • 6 feet, with masks, must be observed between adults and between adults and students.
      • Eating should be done outside when possible. 
    • MMWR Reports:
    • B.1.1.7. Variant:
      • ~50% more transmissible 
      • Likely increased severity 
        • 64% increased risk of death in 'matched pairs' in one study
        • 61% in deaths with B117 present in another study
      • VOC is now across the US
      • As vaccinations increase, dramatic decrease in cases of B117
      • Protect from B117
        • Get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible
        • Continue masking, distancing, avoid indoor congregate settings
    • Media Questions: 
      • CDC is following the science despite criticism that underfunded urban schools haven't been studied enough. Masking, respiratory etiquette, ventilation, teacher vaccination, testing are all scaling up through American Rescue Plan.  
      • Preliminary studies show that previous COVID infection and one MRNA shot are sufficient, but countries recommending only 1 shot have shortages of doses. US is not in that position, so we will continue full 2-dose 
      • Across the board, FEMA and other standup sites are to equitably and quickly give vaccines but are not necessarily permanent
      • Arrangement with Mexico and Canada makes sense to use doses now, but if AZ gets approval in US, those countries will "pay back" doses
      • US is plateauing around 53k cases a day. States should not be pulling back on mitigations - mandatory masking, distancing. Cities, states and regions are still seeing uptick because they're pulling back on health measures and mitigations. 
      • Risk among younger children is much lower than teens and adults, which is why 6ft must be maintained among the older ones.
      • "Time for optimism, but not relaxation."  
      • Variant is more concern among kids, but mitigations are the same. 
  • California COVID-19 Stats:
    • State of California Safe Schools For All Hub
    • Vaccination progress dashboard
    • Aggregate California ICU Bed Availability: 28.7%
    • R-effective: 0.81
    • 17,661,490 Doses Delivered/13,769,061 Doses Administered
    • 3,287 New Cases/3,528,821 Total Cases (5.8 new cases/100k; +0.1% increase)
    • 232 New Deaths/56,027 Total Deaths (0.1 new deaths/100k; +0.4% increase)
    • 2% 14-day test positivity rate
    • 3,812 COVID-19 Hospitalizations (-146 patients, -3.8% from prior day)
    • 1,030 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized in CA (-1 patients, -0.1% from prior day)
    • 2,069 ICU beds available (-13 from prior day)
  • San Diego County 
    • Free Testing Sites and Schedule in San Diego
    • VaccinationSuperstationSD
    • Vaccination Dashboard
    • San Diego County Of Education School Reopening Dashboard
    • State Data:
      • Southern California ICU Bed Availability: 30.5%
      • R-effective: 0.79
      • 439 New Cases/266,752 Total Cases
      • 8 Deaths/3,478 Total Deaths
      • 6.8 cases/100k population (Assessed on 3/16. Unadjusted Case Rate)
      • 2.8% Test Positivity (Assessed on 3/16)
      • 4.2% Health Equity Positivity (Assessed on 3/16)
      • 282 COVID-19 hospitalized patients (0 patients, 0% from prior day)
      • 96 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized patients (+7 patients, +7.9% from prior day)
      • 268 ICU beds available (-7 from prior day)
    • County Data:
      • San Diego County COVID-19 Update – 3-19-2021 - County News Center 
      • 421 New Cases/267,177 Total Cases 
      • 13 New Daily Deaths/3,491 Total Deaths
      • 1,438,515 Doses Received/1,362,817 Doses Administered
      • 4% Daily Test Positivity/2.6% (7-day avg after 7-day lag)/2.8% Test Positivity (14-day average)
      • 6.8 cases/100k population (Assessed on 3/16. Adjusted case rate per 100,000 excluding prisons.) 
      • 100% Case Investigation 
      • -6.8% Day Over Day COVID-19 Hospitalizations (233 patients. -68% over 30 days)
      • 39% ICU Capacity (87 patients. -63% over 30 days)
      • 56 Staffed ICU Beds Available
      • 1 New/17 Community Outbreaks (7-day)
    • Universities:
San Diego Zoo Photos (Posted as Taken) 




































No comments: