2023: COVID-19: It's Still Here, I'm Still Masking | Kaja Turns One |

Kaja on his 1st Birthday (Taken 1.4.2023)

It's been a minute since I've posted COVID data and whatnot, but with good reason...it finally got Darren. I talked about it in a recent post, but because everyone was sick in my house, I was pretty much trying to give them space. I was making myself scarce around the house, spending full days at the San Diego Zoo, going to Sea World, shopping, just doing whatever to let them rest at home. Nova still has a cough, though her locally based doctor said she's okay to be at school with a mask, but I'm happy to report that the Paxlovid seemed to work for Darren and he didn't get the dreaded rebound. He's been working but it's now slow season at the park, so we hung out at the Casbah on Thursday for a private party with The Airborne Toxic Event and then I went to work with him on Friday and enjoyed a chilly day at the Safari Park. Sea World's Christmas Celebration went through the 8th, so I was double dipping, going to the Zoo, then Sea World after, hanging out with the walruses. 

I've been trying to get back into a groove, work is definitely getting busier as Casbah is celebrating 34 years, and I've made the zoo a habit...it forces me out of the house and off my laptop for a couple hours every day. My dad is officially off hospice care, but that means we have to help out a lot more. Today we helped move him, spent the rainy afternoon at the zoo, then went to North Park because I somehow messed up my neck and shoulder and got a massage at Green Bamboo Massage (which was amazing). 

This post is lacking all the usual links because while we followed the mess in Congress last week, I just can't. These morons are going to freeze our country to have no action ever besides bullshit investigations. If you're a government employee or military, you better save up because you know a government shutdown this year is imminent and guaranteed.  

I'm gonna call it a night. I have a million pictures to post but the truth is that I've taken so many photos in the past two years that I've filled my hard drive, so I'm gonna have to take the time to move stuff before I can even dig in and post new stuff. Not tonight, however, because I'm only jacking my shoulder more with the small motor movements of typing on this laptop. But I do wanna thank my friends at NBC for using one of my photos on their Kaja coverage (linked below). 

We've got some old family friends coming into town next week so I'll be doing the tour guide thing but I'll try to make sure listings are done and posted on time. 

Night night, y'all. 

Stay safe out there. 

• COVID-19:
• New Year Brings Reminder to Get Vaccinated - County News Center (1.5.23)
• Covid’s winter surge is poised to exceed summer peak - STAT News (1.3.23)
• Experts urge domestic action against winter COVID surge - The Hill (1.4.22)
• CDC tracking rise of new XBB.1.5 COVID variant, now dominant strain among U.S. cases - CBS News (1.5.23)
• XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant is the most transmissible version of Covid yet, WHO says - CNBC (1.4.22)
• US COVID markers rise; XBB.1.5 keeps fast pace - CIDRAP (1.6.22)
• XBB.1.5 may be ‘most transmissible subvariant of Omicron to date,’ scientists warn - CNN (1.4.23)
• News:
• New California laws on abortion, jaywalking, rap lyrics - kpbs (12.30.22)
• Other Reading:
• OhmygodheisSOOOOOOOCute! San Diego Zoo's Baby Orangutan Kaja Turns 1. Kaja lives at the San Diego Zoo with his mom, 36-year-old Indah, and big sister Aisha, who's now 8 years old herself. NBC San Diego (1.5.23)
• Global COVID-19 Stats (JHU 1.10.23 7:21pm):
•  665,061,220 Known Cases/15,085,561 28-Day New Cases
•  6,711,953 Known Deaths/53,438 28-Day New Deaths
• US COVID-19 Stats 
• JHU
• 101,345,042 Cases/1,777,401 28 Day New Cases
• 1,097,615 Deaths/11,773 28-Day New Deaths
• CDC Data Tracker:
• 470,699 New Cases/101,094,670 Known Cases 
• 2,731 New Deaths/1,091,184 Known Deaths
• 6,063 New Admissions/36,700 Current Hospitalizations
• California COVID-19 Stats (As of 1.5.23):
• R-effective: 0.9
• 6,224 Average Daily Cases/10,934,798 Total Cases (15.5 new cases/100k)
• 34 Average Daily Deaths/98,038 Total Deaths (0.1 new deaths/100k)
• 12.6% 7-day test positivity rate
• 4,547 COVID-19 Hospitalizations (-101 patients, -2.2% from prior day)
• 508 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized in CA (-16 patients, -3.1% from prior day)
• 1,816 ICU beds available (-65 from prior day)
• San Diego County (Data From 1.5.23)
• State Data:
• R-effective: 1.05
• 638 Average Daily Cases/967,383 Total Cases
• 14.2% Daily Positivity
• 2 Average Daily Deaths/5,662 Total Deaths
• 438 COVID-19 hospitalized patients (-1 patients, -0.2% from prior day)
• 47 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized patients (+7 patients, +17.5% from prior day)
• 241 ICU beds available (+1 from prior day)
• County COVID Data:
• 4,714 New Cases Since Last Report/967,078 Total Cases 
• Case rate:20.4  per 100,000 residents overall
• 21 New Deaths Since Last Report/5,662 Total Deaths
• 13.6% Daily Test Positivity/14.1% 7-day average after 7-day lag/12.4% Test Positivity (14-day average)
• 438 COVID-19 Hospitalizations. +27% over 30 days
• 47 ICU Patients. +42% over 30 days
• 43 Staffed ICU Beds Available 
• 1 Community Outbreaks (7-day)
• County Influenza Data:
• 643 New Cases Since Last Report/20,030 Known Cases 
• 1 New Deaths Since Last Report/30 Known Deaths