CoViD-19: Fully Vaccinated Numbers Inch Forward; Cases Sharply Decline | California Outlines Fire Preparedness | Music Comes Back |

Ficus at Dog Beach OB (Taken 5.23.21)

My favorite local venues have been announcing shows for several weeks as have many of my favorite indie bands, but I just haven't adjusted to the thought of going to shows or what that will look like when the time comes. When we were walking around the jetty on Saturday, I was so shocked to come upon a fully packed bar with a cover band playing. Granted it was outside, but I was like no way do I need someone two feet away screaming in my face "so good, so good, so good!" I'm gonna need some space, you know? 

But as each day passes and we clock another grouping of vaccinated in San Diegans...today we're at 52.3% of the 12+ population fully vaccinated and hitting 90.3% of the County's goal with at least first doses... things are looking up. We're counting down to next week when Nova gets her second shot because it means hundreds of other 12-15 year olds will also be eligible for their second shots and then we may really see the numbers take a quick jump. It's exciting and today after seeing a show coming to town late summer I got so excited and then instantly felt dread because of course it's the same night as another amazing show I would likely go to. 2019 problems, amirite? And so I guess we may have some kind of normal again after all. 

But there's still a ways to go before we get there. Today I saw an online friend complaining about EDD, a news story about a woman who is tired of waiting for funeral reimbursement from FEMA, and venues complaining that the SVOG process has been too slow, too confusing, too difficult. While these are all legit and valid complaints, NONE OF THESE THINGS would exist without this administration so can we just be happy about something for a little quick minute? I mean, I know Biden hasn't singlehandedly fixed immigration, taxes, housing, infrastructure, policing, gun control, climate change, social security, health care, droughts, fires, conflicts in Myanmar, Venezuela, Colombia, Tigray, Ukraine, Belarus, all after 4 months in, but can we breathe for just one little second? I will. 

Scan your favorite music sites and buy tickets early and often! I learned today that during the pandemic, in markets where there were still shows in "pods", outdoors where you had to buy the whole grouping of tickets, people were so hungry for entertainment that they were paying 4x more on average than the same artists had charged in the before-times. That doesn't necessarily mean tickets are going to be jacked prices, but it does mean there will be opportunists manipulating the secondary market and I will hate those people even more now than ever before. But also ticketing sites have found ways to authenticate tickets to prevent resale, so maybe the year off will work in everyone's favor after all. Fingers crossed. 

Stay safe out there.  

• COVID-19:
• In 25 States, More Than Half Of Adults Are Fully Vaccinated - NPR (5.24.21)
• CDC says vaccinated people can largely skip testing, shares new breakthrough case count - Becker's Hospital Review (5.24.21)
• Domestic Travel During COVID-19 - CDC (Update 5.19.21)
• Politics: 
• How Many Californians Is Your Vote Worth? - Paste (5.24.21)
• GOP Governors' Cutoff of COVID Benefits Hits Hard in Rural America - Stateline (5.24.21)
• White House: 
• Return Travel on Recently Expired U.S. Passports - State Dept
  Americans overseas may return to US on expired passports through 12.31.21
• FACT SHEET: Biden Administration Invests $1 Billion To Protect Communities, Families, and Businesses Before Disaster Strikes
• News:
• Budget Presentations Go Before County Supervisors - County News Center
• At McClellan Air Force Base, Governor Newsom Highlights New Firefighting Aircraft, $2 Billion in Wildfire and Emergency Preparedness Investments - California Governor Newsroom (5.24.21)
• Other Reading:
• New York City Has a Brand-New “Floating Park” on Its Hudson River. Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, Little Island is a public park that rises out of the water some 200 feet off Manhattan’s West Side. - Architectural Digest (5.24.21)
• Global COVID-19 Stats (JHU 5.24.21 5:21pm):
• 167,104,468 Known Cases
• 3,469,303 Known Deaths
• US COVID-19 Stats 
• CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Data Tracker
• JHU
• 33,140,850 Cases
• 590,515 Deaths
• CDC Data Tracker:
• +13,186 New Cases/32,947,548 Known Cases 
• +220 New Deaths/587,342 Known Deaths
• 357,250,475 Doses Delivered
• 286,890,900 Doses Administered
• 163,907,827 Partially Vaccinated
• 130,615,797 Fully Vaccinated
• California COVID-19 Stats:
• State of California Safe Schools For All Hub
• Vaccination progress dashboard
• Aggregate California ICU Bed Availability: 32.8%
• R-effective: 0.79
• 45,119,680 Doses Delivered/36,364,200 Doses Administered
• 4,462,339 Partially Vaccinated/16,691,024 Fully Vaccinated
• 1,081 New Cases/3,674,044 Total Cases (2.7 new cases/100k)
• 7 New Deaths/61,762 Total Deaths (0.04 new deaths/100k)
• 0.8% 7-day test positivity rate
• 1,513 COVID-19 Hospitalizations (-43 patients, -2.8% from prior day)
• 332 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized in CA (0 patients, 0% from prior day)
• 2,437 ICU beds available (+60 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
• Evening COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics Coming to North, East, South County

• State Data:
• Southern California ICU Bed Availability: 33.9%
• R-effective: 0.72
• 76 New Cases/279,690 Total Cases
• 0 Deaths/3,751 Total Deaths
• 3.8 cases/100k population (Assessed on 5/18. Unadjusted Case Rate)
• 1.6% Test Positivity (Assessed on 5/18)
• 2.1% Health Equity Positivity (Assessed on 5/18)
• 132 COVID-19 hospitalized patients (-8 patients, -5.7% from prior day)
• 44 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized patients (+2 patients, +4.8% from prior day)
• 235 ICU beds available (-5 from prior day)
• County Data:
• San Diego County COVID-19 Update – 5-24-2021 - County News Center 
• 25 New Cases/279,714 Total Cases 
• 0 New Daily Deaths/3,749 Total Deaths
• 4,009,835 Doses Received/3,557,805 Doses Administered
• 1,898,283 Partially Vaccinated/1,465,436 Fully Vaccinated
• 0.4% Daily Test Positivity/1.3% (7-day avg after 7-day lag)/1% Test Positivity (14-day average)
• 3.4 cases/100k population (Assessed on 5/18. Adjusted case rate per 100,000 excluding prisons.) 
• 99.6% Case Investigation 
• -7.2% Day Over Day COVID-19 Hospitalizations (97 patients. -38% over 30 days)
• 38% ICU Capacity (35 patients. -22% over 30 days)
• 47 Staffed ICU Beds Available
• 0 New/15 Community Outbreaks (7-day)
• Universities:
• SDSU COVID-19, UCSD COVID-19, USD COVID-19, CSU San Marcos, PLNU