Tuesday, March 16, 2021

CoViD-19: San Diego Moves To Red Tier | More Studies Validate Vaccine Efficacy | Stop The Recall |

 

This pic of Strawberry didn't get enough votes to move on in March Meowness
(Taken 3.4.2020)

This week has been a convergence of things: it's the anniversary of stay-home orders, Nova is at my mom's this week, stimmies are in the bank, we have a date for school reopening, we have both gotten first doses, and it has been so cold going anywhere seems out of the question, but me and Darren have been living like college kids this week. Up all night, sleep all day. I over-imbibed on Monday, so there's no alcohol involved, but it has been kinda fun to escape adulthood for a couple days. I'll be back to being an adult soon enough as life goes back to some new-normal whether I'm on board or not. 

Of course the big news is that San Diego is back in the red tier. And even with it expanded to 10 cases per 100k, we're under the old standard of 7 cases per 100k. Our adjusted and unadjusted case rates are the same at 6.8 this week. I once again included LA's easy guide on what's open because I feel they've been communicating this better than San Diego County or our news outlets, though their county may be a little stricter than the State guidance, I haven't compared line for line because I don't need to: I will NOT be eating in-person at restaurants, neither inside nor outside, I will not be going to museums nor theatres nor live shows or anywhere that I'm stationary for any significant amount of time. I'll stick to some light shopping, the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, walks around the neighborhood, visiting my parents until this thing gets a little more under control. Today I also included a letter from Gavin Newsom about the recall. I'm not certain that the recall effort will even have enough qualified signatures, but I am 1000% a hard no vote on the question of a recall. Stay safe out there. 

 

  • COVID-19:
    • Yesterday's court ruling has been really pissing me off the more I think about it. I don't agree with the assertion in the lawsuit that the rules are arbitrary. Just because the parents don't take the time to read the science and follow along doesn't make them right. "The lawsuit also pushes back on requirements that students be spaced 4 feet apart in the classroom and they must receive instruction in 'stable groups,' rather than changing classes and mixing with other groups of students." Well lucky for them there's a study about that, too, that found that when students exceeded supervised groups of 20, they stopped following the health mitigations and protocols. 
      SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATION OF COVID-19 MITIGATION (SOCOM): ASSESSING FACE COVERING AND DISTANCING IN SCHOOLS - MedrXiv (3.15.21)
    • New research suggests vaccines reduce risk of COVID-19 spread through nose and mouth (Trigger Warning: Animal testing)- Stars and Stripes (3.15.21)
    • Effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Among Residents of Two Skilled Nursing Facilities Experiencing COVID-19 Outbreaks — Connecticut, December 2020–February 2021 - CDC MMWR (3.15.21)
      A retrospective cohort analysis in two Connecticut SNFs found partial vaccination with Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (from >14 days after dose 1 through 7 days after dose 2) to be 63% (95% confidence interval = 33%–79%) effective against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Even with partial vaccination, Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine provides protection to SNF residents. To optimize vaccine impact among this population, high coverage with the complete 2-dose series is recommended.
    • Contact Tracers Have Tracked the Spread of COVID-19 Fatigue. Authorities across the US hired thousands of contact tracers to fight COVID-19. Workers say their efforts withered under bureaucracy and public apathy - Vice Motherboard (3.15.21)
  • Politics: 
  • News/Other Reading: 
  • Global COVID-19 Stats (JHU 3.16.21 9:24pm):
    • 120,666,507 Known Cases
    • 2,670,236 Known Deaths
  • US COVID-19 Stats 
    • CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Data Tracker
    • JHU
      • 29,547,756 Cases
      • 536,887 Deaths
    • CDC Data Tracker:
      • 29,319,457 Known Cases 
      • 533,057 Known Deaths
      • 142,918,525 Doses Delivered/11,737,856 Doses Administered
        • Moderna  69,432,600 delivered/53,647,312 administered
        • Pfizer 69,695,925 delivered/55,393,141 administered
        • Janssen 3,790,000 delivered/1,569,675 administered
  • California COVID-19 Stats:
    • State of California Safe Schools For All Hub
    • Vaccination progress dashboard
    • Aggregate California ICU Bed Availability: 28.7%
    • R-effective: 0.74
    • 16,686,580 Doses Delivered/12,637,197 Doses Administered
    • 1,260 New Cases/3,530,055 Total Cases (6.1 new cases/100k; 0.0% increase)
    • 42 New Deaths/55,372 Total Deaths (0.1 new deaths/100k; 0.1% increase)
    • 1.8% 7-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)
    • 2,300 ICU beds available (+5 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: 0.7
      • 178 New Cases/265,646 Total Cases
      • 0 Deaths/3,452 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)
      • 306 COVID-19 hospitalized patients (-1 patients, -0.3% from prior day)
      • 97 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized patients (-2 patients, -2.0% from prior day)
      • 286 ICU beds available (+# from prior day)
    • County Data:
      • State Allows San Diego County to Move Into Red Tier - County News Center 
      • COVID-19 Watch 3.16.2021
        • 5,335 Positive Cases 2/28-3/13
        • 2,300 Number Interviewed
        • 1,304 Report No Community Setting Exposure
        • 827 Household Exposures
        • 240 Bars and Restaurants
        • 206 Retail Locations
      • 257 New Cases/265,906 Total Cases 
      • 10 New Daily Deaths/3,462 Total Deaths
      • 1,411,525 Doses Delivered/1,274,951 Doses Administered
      • 3% Daily Test Positivity/2.7% (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.) 
      • 95% Case Investigation 
      • -5.9% Day Over Day COVID-19 Hospitalizations (269 patients. -66% over 30 days)
      • 41% ICU Capacity (89 patients. -67% over 30 days)
      • 72 Staffed ICU Beds Available
      • 2 New/17 Community Outbreaks (7-day)
    • Universities:
    • Red Tier Reopening (From LA County* Guidance may vary slightly from San Diego County)
      • Museums, Zoos and Aquariums can open indoors at 25% capacity.
      • Gyms, Fitness Centers, Yoga and Dance Studios can open indoors at 10% capacity with masking requirement for all indoor activities.
      • Movie Theatres can open indoors at 25% capacity with reserved seating only where each group is seated with at least 6 feet of distance in all directions between any other groups.
      • Retail and Personal Care Services can increase capacity to 50% with masking required at all times and for all services.
      • Restaurants can open indoors at 25% max capacity under the following conditions: eight feet distancing between tables; one household per indoor table with a limit of six people; the HVAC system is in good working order and has been evaluated, and to the maximum extent possible ventilation has been increased. Public Health strongly recommends that all restaurant employees interacting with customers indoors are provided with additional masking protection (above the currently required face shield over face masks); this can be fit tested N95 masks, KN95 masks, or double masks, in addition to the required face shield.  Public Health also strongly recommends that all employees working indoors are informed about and offered opportunities to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Outdoor dining can accommodate up to six people per table from three different households.
      • Indoor Shopping Malls can increase capacity to 50% with common areas remaining closed; food courts can open at 25% capacity adhering to the restaurant guidance for indoor dining.
      • Institutes of Higher Education can re-open all permitted activities with required safety modifications except for residential housing which remains under current restrictions for the Spring semester.
      • Schools are permitted to re-open for in-person instruction for students in grades 7-12 adhering to all state and county directives.
      • Private gatherings can occur indoors with up to three separate households, with masking and distancing required at all times.  People who are fully vaccinated can gather in small numbers indoors with other people who are fully vaccinated without required masking and distancing. 
      • However, just because certain activities are allowed or certain reopening protocols are revised, does not mean that those activities are “safe” and without risk.  We are still in the middle of a pandemic, and whenever there are more opportunities for interactions with people not in your household, there can be more transmission of the virus.  We have the tools to protect ourselves from increased transmission; we just need to use them and not get complacent.
A Letter From Governor Gavin Newsom:

Friends -

I am writing to let you know that earlier today, we launched our campaign to stop the Republican recall attempt in California. I am not going to take this recall attempt lying down. I'm going to fight because there's too much at stake in this moment.

And today, I am asking you to join me:

Please add your name to say you oppose the far-right Republican recall effort in California. It is critical you make your voice heard from the start of this effort.

First and foremost, I need you to know I am not going to be distracted from the critical work we have to move us forward in California. That means getting more vaccines in people's arms, more people back to work, and more kids back in the classroom.

But that means I need your help defeating this recall effort.

And let's call it what it is: it's a partisan, Republican recall -- backed by the RNC, anti-mask and anti-vax extremists, and pro-Trump forces who want to overturn the last election and have opposed much of what we have done to fight the pandemic.

If they are successful, it would mean risking the progress we are making to end the pandemic. We can't let that happen.

California cannot afford to be sidetracked by partisan political games. So we'll fight this recall for the reason I am fighting to get every Californian vaccinated -- because ending this pandemic as quickly as possible is too important to get delayed by Trump loyalists and far right-wing Republicans.

But I cannot do that alone.


Thank you for joining me in this effort. It means a lot to know that we're in this together.

All my best,

Gavin

COVID ALERT FOR CALIFORNIA

RISK DECREASED on 03/15/2021
Source: COVID ACT NOW



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