Category: Health

By Anonymous Blogger

I can relate to the following article by Erik Anderson at KPBS. Within the last week or so, two of my roommates have come down with COVID. Another roommate was sent home from work because of the positives in the house.

That roommate did not have COVID symptoms but in order to get back to work, they had to test negative. Other roommates also wanted to be tested just to be on the safe side.

But, lo and behold, nobody could find those at-home COVID test kits. Several pharmacies were tried. Nothing.

We have an avid reader who raises a good point:

I’m probably missing the obvious, but I can’t figure our why Nathan Fletcher, who jump-started his tenure on the board of supervisors by literally stealing the spotlight every day with his COVID pronouncements, is now no where to be found on the issue.

His publicist won’t even respond to a request for any sort of comment, from the UT.

I’m sure other San Diegans have noticed him MIA, and would also appreciate any insight into his disappearance, as well as this new-found silence by other board members, the county health department, Mayor Todd Gloria, etc.

My weather app on my phone has been displaying daily totals of new COVID cases and deaths. Yesterday, the number of cases was 9,000 something. Today, it was 18,000 something.

In today’s LA Times, it’s reported that “COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen significantly in the Inland Empire and Central Valley,” and has raised the specter of a wider spike in California as the winter holidays approach.

Throughout California cases and hospitalizations hit a plateau after months of decline. In areas “with lower vaccination rates, such as Riverside, San Bernardino and Fresno counties, conditions are deteriorating, with hospitalizations up by more than 20% in recent weeks.

The Widow Laments Unhealthy Habit by Ball Players

By Judi Curry

I am a native Californian. More specifically, I am a native “Angelean” – born and raised in Los Angeles. As long as I can remember – granted, that is a long, long time ago – I have always been a Los Angeles Dodger fan. I remember in 1957, when the then “Brooklyn Dodgers” were allowed to move to Los Angeles, and the New York Giants were allowed to move to San Francisco how excited I was about the move.

As a native, I always went to the Los Angeles Rams football games; the Los Angeles Lakers basketball games. Even though I was living in San Diego when the Rams moved to St. Louis, I always rooted for them – unless they were playing the San Diego Chargers. But this is not about the feeling of traitor-ship I felt when both football teams moved out of my city – and yes, I know the Rams are back – but….

By Todd Walters and Grant Tom / Times of San Diego

The essential frontline healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente deserve more from their company. These unionized workers have given their all during the pandemic to provide the best care possible to their patients. Yet Kaiser Permanente has taken an inflexible and shameful position towards their employees.

Over the last few months, labor organizations that are part of the Alliance of Health Care Unions have been negotiating new national and local agreements with Kaiser to no avail. UFCW Local 135 is part of the alliance, as well as United Nurses Association of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, United Steelworkers, and others.

The San Diego County Department of Environmental Health and Quality Tuesday issued a general rain advisory to avoid water contact at all coastal beaches and bays due to recent rainfall.

Swimmers, surfers and other water users are warned that rain brings urban runoff, which can cause bacteria levels to rise significantly in ocean and bay waters, especially near storm drains, creeks, rivers and lagoon outlets.

Urban runoff may contain large amounts of bacteria from a variety of sources such as animal waste, soil and decomposing vegetation.

Bacteria levels can remain elevated after a rainstorm depending upon the intensity of the storm, volume of runoff and ocean conditions. Many coastal storm drains have permanent warning signs, but additional warning signs are not posted for general rain advisories.

Water contact such as swimming, surfing and diving should be avoided during rain and for 72 hours following the rain event.

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear industry in the US and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those who are working to bring about a nuclear free world.

The fear of nuclear annihilation after WWII spread around the world along with radioactive fallout from nuclear bomb tests. Scientists began to document the presence of this radioactivity in humans.

One particular radioactive chemical, Strontium 90 (Sr- 90), received particular attention. As with other fallout, it does not exist in nature. Like its non- radioactive cousin calcium, if it enters our bodies, it concentrates in our bones and teeth, and can emit radiation there for about 200 years, potentially causing cancer and other dread diseases.

By Luke Winkie / New York Times / September 3, 2021

My girlfriend and I wasted no time this spring. As soon as the Moderna vaccination fever left our bodies in May, we gleefully quadruple-booked every empty weekend left on the calendar. The itinerary swelled beyond precedent. Weddings, birthdays, family reunions and no-occasion rooftop hangs gridlocked into one another, evoking a logistical crisis every evening.

I chilled in the cheap seats at Citi Field, sucked in the stale air at the Alamo Drafthouse and drove to both northern and southern Vermont in the span of three weeks. The world was in bloom, and both of us were desperate to witness it firsthand. In retrospect, maybe we should’ve been more aware of the precarity. Only fools underestimate Covid

Public Service Report

By Matt Hoffman / KPBS / Tuesday, September 7, 2021

One of the region’s largest health care providers is reporting a single-day COVID-19 death record, nearly all among people who were unvaccinated.

“From last Thursday until (Tuesday) morning we’ve had 21 deaths — the highest was on Saturday with 6 deaths,” said Scripps Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ghazala Sharieff. “That is just, I can’t even describe what that feels like knowing that these are all preventable deaths. 92% of our patients are unvaccinated and we didn’t have to be here again.”

From Aug. 1 to Sept 7, there were 70 COVID-19 deaths at Scripps and 67 were those unvaccinated.

As of Tuesday, the hospital system is seeing 162 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, with 51 in the intensive care unit (ICU), Sharieff said.

Neil Young pulled out of Farm Aid earlier in August due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In an August 23 op-ed, Young elaborated on his concerns which accused large concert promoters of valuing profits over safety.

Here is Neil Young’s op-ed:

By Neil Young

Recently I pulled out of Farm Aid for fear that unprotected children may become infected with Covid by folks who went to the show, caught the virus, had no symptoms and returned home to hug their kids or someone else’s kids. I felt that we didn’t know what we were up against and we were endangering others, unprotected innocent children in particular. I know of tours that are out there and have to stop where they are and isolate in motels because one person among them tested positive. I ask myself, why are they out there?

Public Service Information

by Elizabeth Ireland / Times of San Diego / August 26, 2021

San Diego County public health officials reported 1,327 new infections Wednesday and logged 8 coronavirus-related deaths, increasing the cumulative totals to 327,166 cases and 3,859 fatalities.

San Diego County’s case rate per 100,000 residents is 35.2 overall, 9.3 for fully vaccinated people and 66.9 for not fully vaccinated San Diegans.

A total of 16,915 tests were reported Wednesday, and the percentage of new positive cases was 7.8%. The 14-day rolling percentage of positive cases among tests is 7.3%.