COVID-19: Happy To Be Boosted | State of the Union | Devastating Earthquake in Turkiye, Syria | GRAMMY Winners | Fossil Fuel Record Profits |

Happy 3rd Birthday, Amahle!! (Taken 1.23.23)

I guess I should get a normal post out before the listings for the week publish, even though this has last week's COVID data and the new data will be out today anyway. I'm still completely consumed with the Murdaugh Murders trial, and I've been listening and/or watching on YouTube pretty constantly for the past couple weeks. It is obvious to me that Alex is guilty, but I don't know that the prosecution is doing a very good job presenting the information to the jury. It will be a goddamn shame if he walks on these charges, though he'll still be locked up for his financial crimes anyway. 

As for other news this week, I thought Joe did a great job with the State of the Union, at least the 75% or so that I watched before we went to the Casbah on Tuesday night, and the death toll of the earthquake in Turkiye and Syria and the region is now in excess of 15,000 which is absolutely devastating. 

You know I've been following the HPAI -- the bird flu -- and while there are some people freaking out on Twitter about it jumping species, at least locally it sounds like maybe things are getting better. The Safari Park has begun to put some of its birds back in their public accessible habitats, including Max, the talkative Salmon-Crested Cockatoo. I hope that means good news worldwide, but that remains to be seen. Just know when egg prices drop, I'm gonna be farty mcfartypants with all the eggs I'll be deviling and egg salads I'll be shoving down my gullet. 

Hope everyone is doing well. Stay safe out there. 

• COVID-19:
• COVID-19 Cases Decline, County Urges People to Get Vaccinated, Boosted - County News Center (2.2.23)
• FDA: On Wednesday, the FDA revised the Letters of Authorization for two EUAs, Paxlovid and Lagevrio, to remove the requirement for positive test results to prescribe these products. The agency continues to recommend that providers use direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing to help diagnose COVID-19. However, we recognize that, in rare instances, individuals with a recent known exposure (e.g., a household contact) who develop signs and symptoms consistent with COVID-19 may be diagnosed by their health care provider as having COVID-19 even if they have a negative direct SARS-CoV-2 viral test result. In such instances, their health care provider may determine that treatment with authorized therapeutics may be appropriate if the patient reports mild-to-moderate symptoms of COVID-19 and is at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death, and the terms and conditions of the product’s authorization are met.
• COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Regulations to Protect Workers from COVID-19 in Effect - State of California Dept of Industrial Relations (2.4.23)
• This winter's U.S. COVID surge is fading fast, likely thanks to a 'wall' of immunity - npr/KPBS (2.3.23)
• ‘Died suddenly’ posts twist tragedies to push vaccine lies - AP News (2.4.23)
• Politics:
• State of the Union: Biden speech takeaways: More conciliation than conflict - AP News (2.8.23)
• New Chairwoman Delivers State of the County Address - County News Center (2.2.23)
• News:
• Survivors of Turkey, Syria quake struggle to stay warm, fed - AP News (2.9.23)
• Oil-and-gas saw record profits in 2022 - The Hustle (2.2.23)
• Mission Trails Water Project Completed; Park Trails Reopened - Water News Network (1.4.23)
• First Local Detection of Hantavirus in 2023 - County News Center (2.3.23)
• 2023 Grammy Awards: The full list of nominees and winners - NPR (2.5.23)
• Other Reading:
• Your Phone Runs on Cobalt From DR Congo - Statista (1.31.23)
• DONATE: San Diego Humane Society & Project Wildlife Virtual Baby Shower Registries
• Global COVID-19 Stats (JHU 2.3.23 pm):
•  671,338,563 Known Cases/8,312,193 28-Day New Cases
•  6,838,235 Known Deaths/134,032 28-Day New Deaths
• US COVID-19 Stats 
• JHU
• 102,541,976 Cases/1,346,069 28 Day New Cases
• 1,110,856 Deaths/15,500 28-Day New Deaths
• CDC Data Tracker:
• 280,911 New Cases/102,447,438 Known Cases 
• 3,452 New Deaths/1,106,824 Known Deaths
• 3,761 New Admissions/23,062 Current Hospitalizations
• California COVID-19 Stats:
• R-effective: 0.82
• 2,434 Average Daily Cases/11,038,266 Total Cases (6.1 new cases/100k)
• 32 Average Daily Deaths/99,401 Total Deaths (0.1 new deaths/100k)
• 5.0% 7-day test positivity rate
• 2,484 COVID-19 Hospitalizations (-78 patients, -3.0% from prior day)
• 293 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized in CA (+10 patients, 3.5% from prior day)
• 1,743 ICU beds available (-59 from prior day)
• San Diego County 
• State Data:
• R-effective: 0.93
• 268 Average Daily Cases/976,987 Total Cases
• 5.4% Daily Positivity
• 3 Average Daily Deaths/5,728 Total Deaths
• 262 COVID-19 hospitalized patients (-2 patients, -0.8% from prior day)
• 30 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized patients (+1 patients, +3.4% from prior day)
• 217 ICU beds available (-18 from prior day)
• County COVID Data:
• 1,816 New Cases Since Last Report/976,826 Total Cases 
• Case rate: 8.1 per 100,000 residents overall
• 12 New Deaths Since Last Report/5,728 Total Deaths
• 6.4% Daily Test Positivity
• 243 COVID-19 Hospitalizations. -46% over 30 days
• 36 ICU Patients. -27% over 30 days
• 48 Staffed ICU Beds Available 
• Community Outbreaks (7-day)
• County Influenza Data:
• 88 New Cases Since Last Report/20,726 Known Cases 
• 0 New Deaths Since Last Report/39 Known Deaths