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| San Diego Zoo has extended hours until 8pm through April 11. (Taken 4.5.21) |
I had such a productive day. I had a Zoom this morning and since I don't do mornings, I had to go to bed early and take extra melatonin last night. But then I was up and at 'em, made breakfast for the family, watched Jen Sassy Psaki whose PR dexterity and sharpness make her a superhero, watched the COVID-19 Response Team briefing and a couple other newsy things, took the dog for a walk, wrote another rant (see end of this post), then took Darren to get his second vaccine shot. We picked up more amazing food from Sayulita's, macked at home, then Darren and I walked around the San Diego Zoo for the last hour and a half it was open. They're currently open until 8pm, which means a lot of the animals are already off exhibit and the ones who aren't are bathed in darkness, so I didn't get many photos, but we caught one of the last Skyfaris from the west mesa back toward the entrance and now everyone is all nestled up for bed as I have the quiet house to myself. I'll probably do evening zoo at least one more time this week because it's so nice and cool once the sun drops and the animal sounds across the park are so enchanting. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park is now open until 6pm, so we might try and head up on Tuesday to see the blooms of the Baja Succulent Gardens at the very top of the park above the California Condors and Australian Outback.
I haven't had a drink since our camping trip...a mini-cleanse, if you will...but I was ready for action tonight. But with Darren asleep, it seems a little desperate to cocktail alone, so I'll hope he's not knocked out from dose two tomorrow or Wednesday and loosen back up. I'm gonna have to find a new show to watch because I watched the Netflix series "Who Killed Sara?" and I need a palate cleanser for the horrible dialogue on that one, though it could just be a really poor dub. Maybe I'll watch the next season in Spanish when it drops in May. Casbah's got some announcements this week, so make sure you're signed up for their newsletter which you can do at CasbahMusic.com. I hope everyone is being good and safe out there, and I'll catch ya tomorrow.
- COVID-19:
- States ranked by COVID-19 test positivity rates: April 5 - California shows lowest 7-day average positivity rate of all states at 1.1% - Becker's Hospital Review (4.5.21)
- Community Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Associated with a Local Bar Opening Event — Illinois, February 2021 - CDC MMWR (4.5.21)
Forty-six cases of COVID-19 were linked to an indoor bar opening event that occurred during February 2021 in a rural Illinois county. Event patrons were linked to secondary cases among household, long-term care facility, and school contacts, resulting in one hospitalization and one school closure affecting 650 students. - 26 Patrons
- 3 Bar Staff
- 17 Secondary Cases
- 12 cases in 8 households with children, 2 on sports team, 3 in LTCF
- Transmission associated with opening resulted in a school closure affecting 650 students, and hospitalization of LTCF resident.
- Another US Covid-19 surge may look different, experts say, particularly for younger people. Here's how - CNN (4.5.21)
- Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, April 5, 2021
- On Infrastructure/American Jobs Act: "some Republicans — who have been vocal — think investing in water systems and replacing pipes so Americans can have clean drinking water is not infrastructure, but the President does.
Some don’t think investing in high-speed rail is infrastructure; the President does. Some believe building charging stations to support America’s electric vehicle future is not infrastructure; he believes it is.
Some don’t believe that America’s broadband capacity, which is one third of the American — of American — the American people, I should say, don’t have access to broadband, and improving those lines and expanding that access is not infrastructure; the President does.
Some believe that addressing the issue of America’s supply chain so that we’re never again at the mercy of China or any other nation is not investing in infrastructure; the President disagrees.
Some don’t believe that rebuilding schools so that they’re safe and asbestos-free isn’t investing in infrastructure; the President disagrees.
And finally, some don’t think that building a support system to take care of elderly parents or kids with disabilities at home so people can go back into the workforce — some of those 2 million women who have left the workforce during the pandemic — some think that that is not investing in the infrastructure — our workforce of this country that are the backbone of this country; the President disagrees. - Press Briefing by White House COVID-19 Response Team and Public Health Officials:
- Vaccinations:
- Adding 3 more FEMA sites.
- Already 25 max-vaccination sites nationwide
- Averaging 3.1M shots per day
- Nearly 1 in 3 Americans, 40% of adults have 1 shot.
- 70% of seniors partially vaccinated; 55% of seniors fully vaccinated
- Don't mistake progress for victory
- CDC Data
- 64k cases/day average up 7% from previous 7 day period
- 4570 admissions per day up 3% from previous 7 day period
- 800 deaths per day (this is a decrease)
- 4th week of case increases
- 61.4 Million are fully vaccinated
- Younger adults & Variants are driving case increases
- Schools must follow ALL mitigation
- Youth activities and extracurriculars are driving youth spread
- Fauci:
- Vaccination for pregnant women is critical. Symptomatic COVID-19 among pregnant women has adverse effects on pregnant women and their fetuses. Higher risk of pre-term birth, pre-eclampsia, and stillbirth. Vaccinations ARE recommended for pregnant women.
- Media Questions:
- "Not in flu range"
- Haven't seen seasonal trends with COVID-19 so must remain careful. Don't rely on the weather to bail us out.
- B117 Is 50-100x more transmissible. 18-24 year olds are seeing peaks in cases. Related to extra-curricular activities and youth sports. Must employ testing strategies to avoid clusters.
- Evidence that vaccines can help with variants, too.
- There is no right and wrong, just different approaches. One dose of Moderna and Pfizer protection is tenuous and the question of how long it may last. Protection may be further diminished by variants. There is merit to single doses, but we consider current schedule of use as prescribed by EUA to be the best and ideal.
- AstraZeneca still hasn't even applied for EUA with FDA.
- J&J Doses went out have nothing to do with that plant that had ruined doses.
- J&J will have 100M doses as promised by end of May.
- Politics:
- Biden boosted by Senate rules as GOP bucks infrastructure - AP News (4.5.21)
- Bahahahahahahahahahahaha. You have some gall. 'Stay out of politics,' Republican leader McConnell tells U.S. CEOs, warns of 'consequences' - Reuters (4.5.21)
- News:
- San Diego Mayor and leaders encourage residents to apply for rent relief. You can find information and application here. (San Diego Housing Commission)
- ICYMI: Carrying Guns in Public Is Not a Constitutional Right, Ninth Circuit Rules. The majority of an 11-judge en banc Ninth Circuit panel concluded that the Second Amendment does not guarantee the right to carry firearms outside the home. - Courthouse News Service (3.24.21)
- Other Reading:
- Consumerism won't defeat Georgia's Jim Crow - Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow (4.3.21)
- Fernando Tatis Jr. leaves San Diego Padres game due to left shoulder subluxation - ESPN (4.5.21) The $340 Million Shoulder.
- Global COVID-19 Stats (JHU 4.5.21 9:20pm):
- 131,715,671 Known Cases
- 2,860,092 Known Deaths
- US COVID-19 Stats
- CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Data Tracker
- JHU
- 30,784,405 Cases
- 555,597 Deaths
- CDC Data Tracker:
- 40,601 New Cases/30,532,965 Known Cases
- 383 New Deaths/554,064 Known Deaths
- 207,891,395 Doses Delivered/167,187,795 Doses Administered
- Moderna 94,119,600 delivered/76,791,212 administered
- Pfizer 105,077,895 delivered/86,041,963 administered
- Janssen 8,693,900 delivered/4,204,015 administered
- California COVID-19 Stats:
- State of California Safe Schools For All Hub
- Vaccination progress dashboard
- Aggregate California ICU Bed Availability: 30.3%
- R-effective: 0.81
- 24,530,300 Doses Delivered/19,894,885 Doses Administered
- HPI Quartile 1: 3,962,505 (37,495 needed to adjust Tier metrics)
- 2,112 New Cases/3,582,463 Total Cases (5 new cases/100k)
- 21 New Deaths/58,534 Total Deaths (0.16 new deaths/100k)
- 1.6% 7-day test positivity rate
- 2,386 COVID-19 Hospitalizations (-25 patients, -1.0% from prior day)
- 560 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized in CA (-8 patients, -1.4% from prior day)
- 2,392 ICU beds available (+183 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: 32.7%
- R-effective: 0.86
- 193 New Cases/271,528 Total Cases
- 12 Deaths/3,583 Total Deaths
- 4.9 cases/100k population (Assessed on 3/30. Unadjusted Case Rate)
- 2.1% Test Positivity (Assessed on 3/30)
- 2.7% Health Equity Positivity (Assessed on 3/30)
- 200 COVID-19 hospitalized patients (-8 patients, -3.8% from prior day)
- 57 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized patients (+3 patients, +5.6% from prior day)
- 282 ICU beds available (+7 from prior day)
- County Data:
- San Diego County COVID-19 Update – 4-5-2021 - County News Center
- 127 New Cases/271,654 Total Cases
- 0 New Daily Deaths/3,583 Total Deaths
- 1,985,525 Doses Received/1,846,601 Doses Administered
- 2% Daily Test Positivity/2.3% (7-day avg after 7-day lag)/2.2% Test Positivity (14-day average)
- 4.9 cases/100k population (Assessed on 3/30. Adjusted case rate per 100,000 excluding prisons.)
- 99% Case Investigation
- -0.4% Day Over Day COVID-19 Hospitalizations (166 patients. -50% over 30 days)
- 39% ICU Capacity (53 patients. -51% over 30 days)
- 42 Staffed ICU Beds Available
- 0 New/13 Community Outbreaks (7-day)
- Universities:
I have got to keep it cool because of the nature of my work and I'm sure what I'm about to write is going to put me at odds with fellow industry professionals, but I have to say something. Today there was a press conference with Nathan Fletcher and a local events lobbying group talking about eliminating event fees (permits, fire, police, street closures, etc.) for events for the next two years, which the county estimates would cost about $2M. The matter is on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors agenda for Tuesday. Awesome. I'm on board. Eliminate fees for any recurring 2021-2022 event that existed in 2019 or before. The funds would come from the American Rescue Plan so that seems like a valid and intentional use of the ARP. (San Diego County Board of Supervisors Agenda 4.6.21 Item 18) The group hopes cities within the county will follow suit.
What I'm not on board with is the whining and dissing about the lack of guidance from the state. First of all, the Governor issued new guidance for events, concerts, gatherings, and bars on Friday. Second, he will be discussing a 'green tier' this week. This is way more optimistic than early in the pandemic and we were warned we could be in some sort of lockdown for two years or more. But the members who spoke --the same members who were suggesting we could safely reopen in summer 2020, who are aiding the right wingnuts by driving governor recall efforts, who supported the strip club and restaurant lawsuits, and then held numerous rallies, including a specific media appearance on December 18th-- are proving to be completely shortsighted. Just the day before said media appearance on December 17th, the state reported 52,281 new cases in ONE DAY, which was about 20% of the national total for that one day. That same day, the state reported 379 new deaths. We know what December and January looked like. And between that date and yesterday, California experienced 36,353 of the 58,213 COVID deaths to date (62%.) We know that in some places, the lows now are still higher than last summer's highs. And this twat revealed what she really cares about when she said, "just even being able to go to bars or a restaurant to be served to me is like a big deal..." (emphasis mine.) Also, we work in events. We are not "warriors." Settle down.
I've now been writing sd:dialed in for fifteen years. This whole site was basically built off entertainment and events and concerts and good food and craft beer and everything local. I've promoted, volunteered, booked bands, made recommendations, gave insight, and attended numerous events. I can't wait for the time when it can all come back safely. I hope people who lost honest income find grants and support to replace those losses. YES we are vaccinating. YES our status is improving. But these blowhards pushing for more, more, more are seriously pissing me off. Today California still had 2,112 new cases and that's people who got tested on a holiday. Today the CDC said new cases are being driven by schools, sports, and extracurricular activities of young people, especially the unvaccinated 18-24 year olds. This isn't over, not by a long shot, and if people in designated seats at a Padres game can't follow the rules and wear a goddamn mask properly, what makes you think they'll do so at your rip-off events? Cool your jets and take a fucking seat. Get kids back in school safely and then maybe we can worry about your rich people fests, m'kay? And your recall efforts? I'm sure you know where you can shove that.
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