Wednesday, March 03, 2021

CoViD-19: Skip The Guilt, Get Your Vax When You're Eligible | Fauci "Don't Declare Victory" | More On San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance | Comic-Con 2021 Remains Online | Stream Fanboy on Amazon |

Today is World Wildlife Day (Taken at San Diego Zoo 2.18.21)

I'm finding it so curious that I'm seeing news story after news story that San Diego may be moving tiers "as early as next week" as I read online. Nathan Fletcher alluded to modifications of the formulation of the tier system by the state because they were set before vaccines were available, so the projections of X amount of cases today doesn't necessarily translate to Y hospitalizations in 3-4 weeks. (At one point, the projection was 12% of all cases ended up hospitalized. That has dropped dramatically.) But for now, the old rules remain. "To advance, a county must meet criteria for movement to the next less restrictive for the prior two consecutive weeks in order to progress to the next tier; which can be achieved by either or combination of criteria described: Meeting the Adjusted Case Rate, Test Positivity, and Health Equity metric criteria for a less restrictive tier or meeting the criteria for movement to the next less restrictive tier through health equity accelerated progression." All of this still indicates we'd have to get red by Tuesday and stay there for a second week before we actually move to the red tier, but I guess it could all change should the tier system be modified. Tonight the state has indicated that in fact, 40% of vaccines will be reserved for certain zip codes, 1.6 million doses have already been distributed to those specific areas and the tiering could change once 2 million doses have been distributed, which could also mean the tier system stays the same but the offset could dramatically improve the "health equity accelerated progression." (Here's the AP News story that came out late Wednesday night. According to the article, moving from purple to red can happen at 10 cases per 100k instead of the current case/100k of 7. Right now, San Diego is still at 10.8)

In case I haven't been clear, I still think this would be a huge mistake. We messed up and let restaurants and bars open before and it meant that most schools never got to open. Can't we let this play out? Get the teachers vaccinated, get the schools open, then we can all go party at breweries, eat at restaurants, go to Padres games, and whatever else we're so desperately vying to do once we see community transmission is way down? I understand the political pressures, I understand the optics of trying to get things back to 'normal' before the March 13th anniversary of the first shutdown, and the rapid drop in cases is all good news, but I just feel like we need to slow our roll. 

Nothing else going on around here. We let the thunderstorm dictate our day and stayed in all day. Nova has opted to stay at my parents' house so we've been just lazing around staying warm and cozy. Last night I finished Ginny and Georgia on Netflix and I want more. Now I have to find something else to watch. And while talking about TV, you can now stream Fanboy on Amazon. Support Ben!! And stay safe out there...


Public Health Statement Regarding Favorable Court of Appeal Restaurant Ruling

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) is pleased that the Court of Appeal recognized that during a pandemic, it is vitally important for public health officials to quickly take affirmative measures to reduce transmission of COVID-19, in order to combat an ongoing surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.  The Court acknowledged that Public Health recognized that while temporarily restricting outdoor dining at restaurants would have an economic impact, the restriction was an appropriate exercise of public health discretion because dining with others creates a circumstance where non-household members are gathering in close proximity with each other without COVID-19 infection control precautions, such as face mask, thereby increasing the risk of transmission.  Importantly, the Court of Appeal found that the trial court stepped outside of a court’s appropriate role by “mandating a nebulous risk-benefit requirement” on public health decision-making.  This ruling will help public health officials continue to protect the health and safety of all Californians. (3/3/2021)

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