COVID-19: The End of Data Is Nigh | The Kid Is COVID-Free (Finally) | Feinstein To Retire After Term (Finally) | Another Uni Shooting | UFOs |

Cormorant Mama & Chick Feeding at La Jolla Cove (Taken 2.14.23)

Hardly anybody is talking about COVID-19 anymore but I'm going to. Nova had successfully avoided catching COVID for the entire pandemic and then the school district stopped free weekly testing and between her extracurriculars with pep band (playing flute, deep sigh) at the home basketball games, the close proximity with her fellow students in Academic League, her time among her peers at The Center and it was bound to happen, even if she says she was still masking. 

And I'm sure there are people that don't care. There are people who never test, even when they're obviously sick. And there are people who still work or send their kids to school because they don't know better or they can't do otherwise, because they don't have sick time or daycare or whatever. This isn't about any of them or for any of them either.

 

This is about how much it SUCKS when someone in the household gets sick and you do everything you can not to spread it within the household. Not only was Nova sick and mostly isolated in her room for the last 12 days, but I felt obligated to make myself scarce so she could at least cook for herself, eat, watch TV and breathe maskless in the house and to just minimize our shared air. And that sucked. As much as I love going to the Zoo or Sea World or whatever, I felt like I haven't been home in a couple weeks. In the summer when I was sick, it was easy enough for me to stay in our studio, or for Darren to do the same part time when he was sick, but our studio is not really livable in the winter as it's currently configured, and it doesn't feel like kicking a 15 year old to her own apartment was the fair or right or just thing to do. 

 

So naturally when she tested super faint on Sunday and then finally negative on Monday, I was rejoicing when she finally went back to school today, Tuesday. I slept in. I lazed around in my pajamas and did my work on the couch while watching the Murdaugh Murder Trial on YouTube at 1.5x speed. I took care of my overgrown eyebrows that I can only take care of with the sunlight in a shared room. After doing some work, I went on a drive to La Jolla Cove and spent some time with the sea lions, the pelicans, and the cormorants. I popped by Children's Pool to see the 14 seal pups that have been born so far this season. I stopped to pick up creamed spinach at Boston Market because I had a craving. I went to the Zoo and caught Denny for a couple minutes before he went in, then spent some time at the orangs and some time in Parker Aviary. I picked up some rib roast on the way home. We cooked the meat and garlic bread and mashed potatoes and vegetables and we had a lovely Valentine's Dinner together at home. And I have a table full of flowers from Darren's new job. And the kid went to school and to The Center and came home beaming that she is once again part of the world. It felt nice to feel normal again.  

Happy Valentine's Day! Stay safe out there.  

• COVID-19:
• Long COVID Is Keeping So Many Young People Out of Work. It’s hard to do your job when you’re exhausted, in pain, or emotionally depleted. - Self (2.8.23)
• County’s COVID-19 Emergency Declarations to End; Response Continues - County News Center (2.7.23)
• COVID test kits, treatments and vaccines won't be free to many consumers much longer - npr/kpbs (2.8.23)
• Food assistance benefits for millions of Californians will soon be slashed. Emergency allotments to the state's CalFresh program will end this month, so that families will see the last boost to their benefits next month. - CBS 8 (2.7.23)
• As the pandemic ebbs, an influential COVID tracker shuts down - NPR/kpbs (2.10.23)
• COVID drug drives viral mutations — and now some want to halt its use. Analysis reveals the signature of the antiviral drug molnupiravir in SARS-CoV-2 sequences riddled with mutations. - nature (2.7.23)
• A Crucial Group of Covid Drugs Has Stopped Working. A key tool in the early pandemic response, monoclonal antibodies are now ineffective against new variants. Immunocompromised patients are especially at risk. - Wired (2.8.23)
• San Diego County, California's Community Risk Level Has Decreased To Low as of 2.10.2023 - Covid Act Now
• San Diego metro area's Community Risk Level Has Decreases To Low as of 2.10.2023
• Politics:
• Abortion Pills Could Be Banned Everywhere Within Days. Here’s What You Need to Know. “People in every state—including states like New York, Illinois and California—will not be able to get abortion pills.” - VICE (2.8.23)
• Inside the push for a nationwide ban on abortion medication - Popular.Info (2.13.23)
• Sen. Dianne Feinstein announces she will retire from Congress. Feinstein, 89, is the oldest senator and the longest-serving senator from California. Two House Democrats have already announced bids for her seat. - NBC News (2.14.23)
• US suspects three unidentified objects it shot down were 'benign' - BBC News (2.14.23)
• The More You Look for Spy Balloons, the More UFOs You’ll Find. No, there’s not a sudden influx of unidentified objects in the skies above the US—but the government is paying closer attention. - Wired (2.14.23)
• County to Fund Millions Toward Affordable Housing - County News Center (2.10.23)
• News:
• IRS: Wait to file taxes if you got California's Middle Class Tax Refund - kpbs (2.8.23)
• Diocese of San Diego says it may file for bankruptcy as it faces hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits - City News Service/kpbs (2.10.23)
• The gunman who killed 3 Michigan State students and wounded 5 may have planned to attack New Jersey schools, police say, as heroes helped classmates flee - CNN (2.14.23)
• Other Reading:
• 2023 Spring Season May Bring Spectacular Wildflower Blooms—and Crowds—to State Parks - California State Parks (2.10.23)
• Video Didn't Kill the Radio Star - Statista (2.13.23)
• Florida Straight Up Lied About AP African-American Studies Course, College Board Says. “We deeply regret not immediately denouncing the Florida Department of Education’s slander,” the College Board said on Saturday. - Vice (2.13.23)
• Global COVID-19 Stats (JHU 2.14.23 6:21pm)
•  673,192,462 Known Cases/5,878,536 28-Day New Cases
•  6,856,252Known Deaths/69,140 28-Day New Deaths
• US COVID-19 Stats 
• JHU
• 102,904,309 Cases/1,217,760 28 Day New Cases
• 1,114,990 Deaths/14,444 28-Day New Deaths
• CDC Data Tracker:
• 282,827 New Cases/102,736,819 Known Cases 
• 3,171 New Deaths/1,110,364 Known Deaths
• 3,615 New Admissions/19,416 Current Hospitalizations
• California COVID-19 Stats:
• R-effective: 1.1
• 2,635 Average Daily Cases/11,061,732 Total Cases (6.6 new cases/100k)
• 29 Average Daily Deaths/99,694 Total Deaths (0.1 new deaths/100k)
• 5.7% 7-day test positivity rate
• 2,477 COVID-19 Hospitalizations (-101 patients, -3.9% from prior day)
• 275 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized in CA (+7 patients, +2.6% from prior day)
• 1,761 ICU beds available (-43 from prior day)
• San Diego County 
• State Data:
• R-effective: 1.01
• 260 Average Daily Cases/979,002 Total Cases
• 5.1% Daily Positivity
• 2 Average Daily Deaths/5,745 Total Deaths
• 259 COVID-19 hospitalized patients (+2 patients, +0.8% from prior day)
• 25 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized patients (+7 patients, +38.9% from prior day)
• 205 ICU beds available (-13 from prior day)
• County COVID Data:
• 1,714 New Cases Since Last Report/978,824 Total Cases 
• Case rate: 7.9 per 100,000 residents overall
• 17 New Deaths Since Last Report/5,745 Total Deaths
• 5.9% Daily Test Positivity
• 252 COVID-19 Hospitalizations. -43% over 30 days
• 30 ICU Patients. -35% over 30 days
• 42 Staffed ICU Beds Available 
• 1 Community Outbreaks (7-day)
• County Influenza Data:
• 75 New Cases Since Last Report/20,803 Known Cases 
• 1 New Deaths Since Last Report/40 Known Deaths