san diego: dialed in: CoViD-19: Reopenings Are Upon Us: Casbah Soft Opening | President Biden Reveals Smart Gun Goals | Sea World To Operate As Theme Park | Del Mar Bluff Stabilization Underway

Waiting On Salud Tacos at Casbah San Diego (Taken 4.8.21)

We did it. Darren and I went to the soft opening of the Casbah. It was so good to see everyone and sneak in some hugs among our fully vaccinated cohorts. There's nice spacing of the tables on the patio and in the Razzmatazz Room, Ben was slinging behind the bar behind a sheet of plexiglass. Cynthia, Janelle, and Emily were among the food and drink runners and it was very expedient. And of course, Salud makes amazing food. Tacos are $3, 3 for $8, or $10 for a plate of 3 tacos, beans and rice. We each had two tacos and an order of shrimp ceviche ($8) and it all hit the spot. We were only there about an hour but of course, not without incident.

It takes a really special type of person to show up at a soft opening of a business that has been closed for over a year and refuse to wear a mask and follow pandemic guidelines. The guy comes in with a lady friend, gets seats and quickly gets their drinks, and then proceeds to get out of seat to skank to the music, bounding from table to table without a mask. When Tom told him he needed to be seated and masked when he's not seated, he had to get sassy. One person out to ruin it for everyone. We settled our tab and were leaving, saying our goodbyes, and sure enough, on our way out, he was escorted out and making a huge scene about it. Mind you, there were like 30 people in the whole space. I am so stoked that the Casbah can be open in some small way, but the stress of rule enforcement there and at any restaurants, bars, and venues is momentous. It's really super simple: don't be a dick. We are a society and as a society, we are expected to conform to rules and norms, and if you don't want to comply and abide the rules, stay home. Or move to Texas or Florida.

There was a lot of news today, particularly President Biden's goals for smart, sensible, and frankly, not enough, gun sense measures and goals. San Diego appears to have stable cases and we may actually see testing start to increase even more as many schools go back to in-person learning on Monday. Nova got her COVID test earlier this week, but I think we'll make a habit of doing that while she finishes out the school year. It's easy, free, and can help us feel some peace of mind until vaccines open up for her age group. Fingers crossed.

Stay safe out there.

COVID-19:

3 possible futures for Covid-19 in the US — with hope for a return to normal. The next month could determine who lives to see normalcy come back. -Vox (4.8.21)
Coronavirus: children could be silent carriers of Covid-19 in community, Hong Kong researchers find - South China Morning Post (4.6.21)

Toddlers found to have significantly higher viral loads than even adults who need intensive care, according to a study done in the United States
Children are more likely to become a hidden source of infection, and may play a role in community transmission, Chinese University researchers say

Ready or Not, the Reopening Is Coming. Why the most important metric to watch is hospitalizations, and how we’re all now betting we’ll win the race with the virus. - Voice of San Diego (4.7.21)
In the Covid-19 vaccine push, no one is speaking Gen Z’s language - STAT News (4.8.21)

Politics:

President Biden announced his administration will take the following actions:

Direct the Department of Justice (DOJ) to propose a regulation, within 30 days, to stop the proliferation of deadly, untraceable ghost guns
Modify multiple federal grant programs to increase available funding for community violence intervention programs
Publish a model extreme risk protection order (ERPO) law within 60 days
Direct DOJ to issue a new, comprehensive annual report on firearms trafficking
Direct DOJ to propose a regulation ensuring the stabilizing arm braces that circumvent the law on dangerous short-barrel rifles are subject to the National Firearms Act
Nominate David Chipman, a former special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and leading gun safety expert, to be the director of the ATF
And all of that great news comes on top of President Biden already proposing $5 billion in funding to support community violence prevention programs over the course of eight years as part of the President's American Jobs Plan. (Source: Everytown for Gun Safety)

White House:

News:

Sea World San Diego will operate as a theme park beginning on April 12th. Under state guidelines, they will operate at reduced capacity, in-state visitors only, and groups may be no more than three combined households. Until now, the park was operating under the guidance for Zoos/Aquarium/Museums which allowed for 25% capacity under the red tier. Under the orange tier, that capacity would expand to 50%. However, as a Theme Park, Sea World may operate at 25% capacity with weekly testing for employees, and other health mitigations, but may open rollercoasters and rides. All ticketing must be done online in advance, and reservations are required.
SANDAG and the North County Transit District (NCTD) are leading efforts to stabilize portions of the coastal bluffs in the City of Del Mar. - SANDAG
In February, the Del Mar Bluffs suffered a collapse south of 4th Street. SANDAG and the North County Transit District (NCTD) are working to repair this section of the bluffs, with help from $10.5 million that SANDAG received in March from the California Transportation Commission to conduct emergency repairs. Until the repairs are made, train speeds through Del Mar are reduced to ensure safety. Additionally, SANDAG, NCTD, and the City of Del Mar are urging the public not to sit, stand, or walk within 50 feet of the bluffs.
SANDAG crews have removed debris from the site, graded the slope, and will install up to 18 support columns into the bluffs and construct a sea wall on the beach to support the upper and lower portions of the bluff over the coming months. The emergency repairs are expected to be complete by summer 2021.
Additionally, SANDAG is studying long-term solutions to move the rail tracks off the Del Mar Bluffs

Other Reading:

Opinion: San Diego’s sexual health programs need better resources to be sustainable, now and post-pandemic - San Diego Union Tribune (4.7.21)
For the last five years, STDs have been on the rise in San Diego. So much so that in 2018, a study by AIDSVu found that residents of the San Diego metropolitan area were diagnosed with chlamydia at a rate of 656.5 per 100,000 people — bestowing America’s Finest City with the No. 1 chlamydia rate among major cities in the American West.

COVID testing blitz undermined screening, fight against STDs - AP News (4.7.21)

Global COVID-19 Stats (JHU 4.8.21 9:21pm):

133,810,743 Known Cases
2,901,103 Known Deaths

US COVID-19 Stats

CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Data Tracker
JHU

31,001,640 Cases
560,090 Deaths

CDC Data Tracker:

74,860 New Cases/30,737,477 Known Cases
871 New Deaths/556,106 Known Deaths
229,398,685 Doses Delivered/174,879,716 Doses Administered

Moderna 100,866,200 delivered/28,472,059 administered
Pfizer 114,083,385 delivered/32,808,648 administered
Janssen 14,449,100 delivered/4,886,336 administered

California COVID-19 Stats:

State of California Safe Schools For All Hub
Vaccination progress dashboard
Aggregate California ICU Bed Availability: 31.0%
R-effective: 0.80
26,966,680 Doses Delivered/21,483,192 Doses Administered
2,093 New Cases/3,588,152 Total Cases (4.8 new cases/100k)
129 New Deaths/58,788 Total Deaths (0.1 new deaths/100k)
1.9% 7-day test positivity rate
2,312 COVID-19 Hospitalizations (-54 patients, -2.3% from prior day)
534 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized in CA (-7 patients, +1.3% from prior day)
2,277 ICU beds available (-85 from prior day)

San Diego County

Free Testing Sites and Schedule in San Diego
Vaccination Registration
Vaccination Dashboard
San Diego County Of Education School Reopening Dashboard
State Data:

Southern California ICU Bed Availability: 32.1%
R-effective: 0.89
328 New Cases/272,195 Total Cases
3 Deaths/3,588 Total Deaths
5.8 cases/100k population (Assessed on 4/6. Unadjusted Case Rate)
2.3% Test Positivity (Assessed on 4/6)
2.6% Health Equity Positivity (Assessed on 4/6)
183 COVID-19 hospitalized patients (-15 patients, -7.6% from prior day)
56 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized patients (-1 patients, -1.8% from prior day)
269 ICU beds available (-17 from prior day)

County Data:

San Diego County COVID-19 Update – 4-8-2021 - County News Center
300 New Cases/272,494 Total Cases
4 New Daily Deaths/3,592 Total Deaths
2,127,135 Doses Received/1,940,511 Doses Administered
2% Daily Test Positivity/2.7% (7-day avg after 7-day lag)/2.3% Test Positivity (14-day average)
5.8 cases/100k population (Assessed on 4/6. Adjusted case rate per 100,000 excluding prisons.)
99% Case Investigation
-2.8% Day Over Day COVID-19 Hospitalizations (156 patients. -51% over 30 days)
39% ICU Capacity (55 patients. -40% over 30 days)
61 Staffed ICU Beds Available
3 New/18 Community Outbreaks (7-day)