The New York Times today published a fabulous piece by renowned science writer Donald G. McNeil Jr., headlined “The Long Darkness Before Dawn.” The story is a nice primer, of sorts, on where the United States stands regarding the coronavirus, and where the country is headed.
This is the sub-headline on the piece: “With vaccines and a new administration, the pandemic will be tamed. But experts say the coming months ‘are going to be just horrible.’”
I really, really hope the second half of that sub-headline is wrong … but, yikes, the current numbers are bad—on national, state AND local levels.
They’re so bad, in fact, that another stay-at-home order could be coming to the Coachella Valley within a matter of days. Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier today said that unless the state’s COVID-19 case-count increases don’t stop VERY soon, ICU capacity in some parts of the state could be overwhelmed by mid-December—so the state may soon make most counties lock down again.
As the Los Angeles Times explains:
“If these trends continue, we’re going to have to take much more dramatic—arguably drastic—actions,” (Newsom) said during a briefing.
Those include “the potential for a stay-at-home order” for areas in the strictest purple tier of California’s coronavirus reopening road map, he said. Of the state’s 58 counties, 51 are in the purple tier.
Officials have watched with growing alarm as a recent record-setting flood of new coronavirus cases has started to wash over the state’s hospital system.
There were 7,787 coronavirus patients hospitalized statewide as of Sunday, according to the latest available data. That’s the highest number recorded during the pandemic and an increase of roughly 89 percent from two weeks ago.
Hang on, folks. December is going to be a weird, difficult month.
More news from the day:
• On a slightly brighter note, Gov. Newsom laid out plans the state has to help small businesses get through the increasingly ugly mess that we’re in. Included are tax credits, low-interest loans and a new grant program. Details are still being worked out, however.
• Our partners at CalMatters published a piece today pointing out that yet another sad COVID-19 record has been set in California: “Inside California’s prisons, coronavirus cases have exploded, reaching 3,861 active cases last week—the highest so far. Yet the state has slowed its early releases of inmates, raising questions about overcrowding as the infections spread through the prisons.”
• In other scary-as-heck coronavirus news: Santa Clara County over the weekend instituted restrictions that, among other things, require anyone coming to the county from more than 150 miles away to quarantine for two weeks. Those restrictions also forced the San Francisco 49ers to find a new temporary home.
• Los Angeles County instituted a lockdown order lowering capacities at—but not closing—most retail businesses, and banning all gatherings among people from different households.
• The NFL is a mess. A massive COVID-19 outbreak among the Baltimore Ravens has led to multiple postponements of their scheduled game with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and lapses in protocols forced the Denver Broncos to play on Sunday without any of the quarterbacks on their roster. (That did not go so well.)
• Oh, and if you went to a larger gathering for Thanksgiving, Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, kindly requests that you assume you’re infected and go into quarantine.
• Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, said this to CNBC today: “We’re going to probably have by the end of this year, 30% of the U.S. population infected. You look at states like North Dakota and South Dakota, it’s probably 30%, 35%. Maybe as high as 50%.”
• CNN is reporting that Dr. Scott Atlas—a colleague of Birx’s who has been peddling discredited herd-immunity sorts of theories—has resigned from the Trump administration.
• Good news: Moderna, as expected, today applied to the FDA for an emergency authorization for its vaccine, after a large-scale trial in which nobody who received the vaccine developed a serious COVID-19 illness.
• Bad news: NBC News reports that although Facebook recently banned some large anti-vax accounts from the platform, smaller yet influential groups continue to be a big problem: “While researchers of extremism and public health advocates see the removal of the largest anti-vaccination accounts as mostly positive, new research shows the bigger threat to public trust in a COVID-19 vaccine comes from smaller, better-connected Facebook groups that gravitated to anti-vaccination messaging in recent months.”
• The city of Rancho Mirage has launched drive-through, self-administered, no-cost testing via Curative. It takes place every Tuesday through Saturday at the Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory’s west parking lot starting tomorrow; details here.
• The organizers of Modernism Week announced today that they’re delaying the in-person portions of the event from February to April. From the news release: “Modernism Week has decided to reschedule in-person events from February to April 8-18-2021. … In its place in February, the Modernism Week Online Experience will include a curated line-up of more than 20 new video programs created specifically for Modernism Week, and encore presentations of past programs available for purchase and on-demand streaming February 1-28, 2021 at modernismweek.com. Also online in February, Modernism Week will offer an online auction February 1-14 that will feature one-of-a-kind architectural experiences and unique, limited specialty items not normally available to the public. … ‘We are committed to the safety of our guests and we are monitoring daily health advisories,’ said William Kopelk, Modernism Week Chairman. ‘We realize that it will not be possible to provide in-person events during our annual February dates, however, we are optimistic that we will be able to provide safer and more enjoyable in-person tours and programs in April as conditions improve. We want to do what is best for our guests, as well as for our staff and volunteers.’” Watch modernismweek.com for updates.
• The San Francisco Chronicle reminds people who have received unemployment this year that the money is subject to federal taxes: “State employment agencies, including the California Employment Development Department, give people the option of having 10% of their base unemployment payment withheld for federal taxes. But most people don’t, and even if they do, it might not be enough to cover what they actually owe if they have other income. California does not tax unemployment benefits, although some states do.”
• Well, after all that, I could use a drink … or maybe a break to read about drinks? Well, if you want to read up on boozy treats, our cocktail columnist offers up this list of books and other possible gifts for the drink-lover in your life.
Happy Monday, all. Please have a great week, despite all the darkness that swirls around. Please, if you can afford it, click here to learn more about supporting local journalism by becoming a Supporter of the Independent. As always, thanks for reading.