san diego: dialed in: CoViD-19: Omicron Transmission Concerns | "Experts" Ignore Math When Assuming "Milder" Virus | SCOTUS Trashes Constitutional Precedent

Game Night (Taken 12.10.21)

I didn't have a chance to finish my post yesterday, so here it is. Late in the afternoon, the plan was that I was going to get dropped off at the San Diego Zoo while Darren and Nova went for long needed haircuts with a friend in Banker's Hill. But then I spoke with my sister to find out her kids were kinda stuck at Liberty Station without a ride (they both go to HTH) and so it changed the whole plan.

Instead, I dropped off Nova and Darren, picked up the girls and did a little shopping, then returned to pick up in Banker's Hill and then we all came to my house to make bean burritos while the girls played Clue. We decided to turn it into a full game-night and took Cranium to my mom's where we played adults vs kids.

As an aside, I used to LOVE Cranium. Friends and I would play at our own game nights, and I've been waiting for the kids to be old enough to play. But also, the game is from circa 1998, so there are some things that are completely outdated and some that the girls would never know at their ages. For example, there's a charades style category called Cameo, and I had to act out John Travolta and Sylvester Stallone. Still, it was fun. There are clues where you have to draw with your eyes closed, for example, and Nova excelled on drawing Pinocchio and Santa Claus. There's backwards spelling. There are word jumbles. There's humming or whistling old songs. It was super fun and the girls already asked if we can play again on Christmas. Now I'll be on the hunt for updated cards and probably some play-doh since the clay we're supposed to use to sculpt some clues is hard as a rock after sitting in my closet for 20 years.

I think my dad is doing a lot better. His conditions are still what they are, but he loves the energy of having all of us in the house together at once. He has regular visits from nurses and occupational therapists and physical therapists and the like, and next week they're going to try to use the electronic lift to get him out of bed and into a chair. Small steps to better his quality of life while he's still with us.

There was a lot of news yesterday as the CDC released their first MMWR on the Omicron variant, but it is *crucial* to know that (1) omicron has been detected in San Diego with a person who did not travel, meaning community spread is happening (2) "so far the virus is milder" because most of the people identified as having the omicron variant did travel so were required to have vaccines and boosters and the vaccinated are just more inclined to get tested in the first place and (3) there are some very frightening threads about Omicron's transmissibility, explainers about denominators, and the effect on unvaccinated children, and none of it is good or reason to be optimistic, so do what you gotta do to protect yourself and your family. "Not needing a ventilator" is not my personal definition of mild illness and while anecdotal stories can support any hypothesis, I tend to listen to the people who are fully vaxxed and boosted and yet their "mild" infections have them in bed for days or weeks. No thank you.

I'm gonna take the weekend off but will be back with a post on Monday.

Stay safe out there.

COVID-19:

Locally Acquired Omicron Case Identified in San Diego County - County News Center (12.10.210
COMMENTARY: 8 things US pandemic communicators still get wrong - CIDRAP (12.9.21)

Overconfidence and failure to proclaim uncertainty
Failure to do anticipatory guidance
Fake consensus
Prioritizing health over other values
Prioritizing health over truth
Failure to own your mistakes

Sometimes you let the error fester uncorrected.
Sometimes you update your judgment in the dark of night.
Sometimes you update your judgment and tell us you did so—which is a huge improvement—but try to mislead us about the reasons for the change.
Sometimes you explicitly deny your prior position.

Failure to address misinformation credibly and empathetically
Politicization

Interim recommendations for the use of the Janssen Ad26.COV2.S (COVID-19) vaccine - WHO (12.10.21)
The infectious disease expert who warned us 800,000 Americans would die of Covid-19 - CNN (12.9.21)
The Omicron variant can likely outcompete Delta — and that could worsen the U.S. Covid-19 epidemic - STAT News (12.10.21)
Omicron appears to be spreading faster in the UK than in South Africa, experts say - Business Incider (12.10.21)

CDC MMWR:

SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 (Omicron) Variant — United States, December 1–8, 2021
Booster and Additional Primary Dose COVID-19 Vaccinations Among Adults Aged ≥65 Years — United States, August 13, 2021–November 19, 2021
BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccines among Hospitalized Veterans — Five Veterans Affairs Medical Centers, United States, February 1–September 30, 2021
Community-Based Testing Sites for SARS-CoV-2 — United States, March 2020–November 2021

Politics:

1 in 10 Americans say the COVID-19 vaccine conflicts with their religious beliefs - NPR (12.9.21)

News:

California pushes composting to lower food waste emissions - AP News (12.10.21)
SANDAG Board Adopts 2021 Regional Plan, Advancing Bold Vision for Transportation - SANDAG (12.10.21)
Court won't stop Texas abortion ban, but OKs clinics' suit - AP News/kpbs (12.10.21)

Chief Justice John Roberts warns Supreme Court over Texas abortion law. Roberts joined the high court’s three liberal justices in discussing the constitutionality of the Texas abortion law. - NBC News (12.10.21)

Other Reading:

Amazon is proving there are pros and cons to being its own best customer. Amazon’s logistics unit has made the company indispensable this holiday season, but AWS outages could ruin the fun. - The Hustle (12.10.21)
Disinformation Group Allegedly Staked Out California Med Board President— Kristina Lawson said members of America's Frontline Doctors ambushed her in a dark parking garage - MedPage Today (12.9.21)
5 Ways to Prevent Winter Home Fires - County News Center (12.10.21)