The Summer COVID Spike Is Arriving; the State Tries to Boost Home Insurance Options–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: June 13, 2024

Indy Digest: June 13, 2024

It is unfortunately time for the latest in a series of periodic reminders that COVID-19 is still a thing—and, in fact, we’re in the midst of a spike.

Time magazine reports:

Just in time for summer vacation season, COVID-19 seems to be creeping back in the U.S.

Nationally, the amount of SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater is still low, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but levels have been gradually increasing in recent weeks. COVID-19 hotspots have already emerged in parts of the Northeast, West, and South, as well as Hawaii, wastewater data show.

The increase is apparently driven by the so-called FLiRT variants, which began circulating in the U.S. earlier this spring. FLiRT variants now account for the majority of new U.S. cases, according to CDC monitoring, and seem to be driving an increase in transmission as well as a 16% rise in COVID-related emergency-department visits. Hospitalization and death rates are, for now, holding steady.

One of those aforementioned hot spots is the San Francisco Bay Area,

SFGate says:

If you or any of your friends have gotten sick with COVID-19 recently, you’re not the only ones: Case rates are rising in the Bay Area and the proof is in the pipes. According to the California Department of Public Health, the region now has the most viral wastewater than anywhere else in California.

In an email to SFGATE, Amanda Bidwell, a wastewater researcher and data analyst at Stanford, said that over the past 21 days “consistently high concentrations” of SARS-CoV-2 have been detected in wastewater samples collected across San Francisco.

“Currently we are seeing some of the highest concentrations we’ve ever measured” at these locations, Bidwell continued. And across San Francisco, the levels are approaching those last seen in December and January. Because individuals shed the virus before getting tested, this method of monitoring wastewater helps predict upcoming surges while including data from those who are asymptomatic.

Let me draw your attention to the statement at the start of that paragraph directly above: Currently we are seeing some of the highest concentrations we’ve ever measured.

As for locally … well, SARS-CoV-2 is apparently spiking here, too. Here’s the latest chart from the Valley Sanitary District in Indio:

For the vast, vast majority of us, COVID-19 is not likely to be a matter of life and death these days. But it’s not fun to be sick, and we still know very little about long COVID.

Also: COVID still can kill. The state reports 241 deaths between April 3 and June 1—an average of four people per day.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• Related to above: Moderna is working on a combined COVID-19 and influenza shot—but don’t expect to get one until at least next year. The Washington Post says: “Moderna’s combined coronavirus-influenza shot produced a higher immune response in older adults than separate vaccines for those viruses administered together, according to data the company released Monday. The promising results from clinical trials, which have yet to be peer reviewed and published in a medical journal, could offer a new option to boost paltry uptake of updated coronavirus vaccines. Moderna officials say the earliest that the combined vaccine could hit the market is fall 2025, pending regulatory approval.”

• Today’s recall news involves … sunscreen! CNN says: “Las Vegas-based skincare company Suntegrity is recalling nine lots of Impeccable Skin Sunscreen Foundation after tests revealed ‘higher than acceptable’ levels of Aspergillus sydowii mold in some tubes, according to a notice posted on the US Food and Drug Administration’s website Wednesday. No adverse events have been reported, according to the notice. But consumers are advised to stop using the product, which was sold online and in stores. Those who would like a credit or refund should contact the retailer, but customers who would prefer an exchange can contact Suntegrity. Products with Aspergillus sydowii can cause an allergic skin reaction or a primary fungal skin infection if used on injured or sunburned skin, the company said in the alert. If the fungus touches the eye, it can also cause eye infections.”

• The state is trying to boost home-insurance options in areas that are at high risk of fire. Our partners at CalMatters say: “California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara unveiled today an effort to force insurers to resume writing policies in high-fire-risk areas—part of an overall plan to address the state’s insurance crisis. … Lara said this should help homeowners who have lost coverage or been forced to turn to the last-resort FAIR Plan. Insurance companies would have these three options: 1. Write 85% of their statewide market share in high-risk areas. The department explains it this way: ‘If a company writes 20 out of 100 homes statewide, it must write 17 out of 100 homes in a distressed area.’ 2. Achieve one-time 5% growth in the number of policies they write in high-risk areas. 3. Expand their number of policies 5% by taking people out of the strained FAIR Plan, a pool of insurers the state requires to provide fire-insurance policies when property owners can’t obtain insurance elsewhere. Insurers could meet these policy-writing quotas either at the county level or the ZIP code level.”

• Down in Temecula, a staunchly conservative school board member has been narrowly recalled. The Press-Enterprise reports: “The recall election against Temecula school board President Joseph Komrosky appears to have succeeded, election results show, but Komrosky alluded Tuesday night, June 11, that he hoped to return to public service in November. At what could have been his final board meeting, Komrosky made a point in his comments to thank the public for its support before referring to his future. ‘I look forward to serving my community again in November,’ Komrosky said. … Komrosky is 213 votes shy of avoiding ouster from the school board, election results posted Wednesday show. There are 104 vote-by-mail ballots still to be counted, the Riverside County Registrar of Voters stated on its website. ‘Cured ballots’ will be accepted until Tuesday, June 18. … Komrosky, along with Jen Wiersma and Danny Gonzalez, drew the ire of critics with moves such as a ban on critical race theory, approving a policy requiring parents to be told if their child identifies as transgender and starting a feud with Gov. Gavin Newsom over a social studies curriculum with materials that referenced LGBTQ civil rights leader Harvey Milk.”

• AARP reports on the horrendous wait times people are having endure while dealing with the Social Security disability process: “In the late 2010s, it typically took the Social Security Administration (SSA) 110 to 120 days to process an initial application for disability benefits, according to agency data. Over the first eight months of the 2024 federal fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, the average was 230 days, or more than seven and a half months. The average wait for a reconsideration by the SSA, the first step in appealing a denied claim, is seven months. If reconsideration is denied, It takes another 15 months on average to get to the next step, a hearing before a Social Security administrative law judge. … In a recent interview with AARP, Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley said 30,000 people died in 2023 while their applications for disability benefits were grinding through the system.”

• And finally … we’ll conclude with this New York Times headline: “No Tables for Anyone Under 30 at This St. Louis-Area Restaurant.” The story explains: “When Tina and Marvin Pate travel to Cancún or the Dominican Republic, they enjoy the bliss created by the good music, delicious food and the absence of children. So in May, when they opened Bliss Caribbean Restaurant in St. Louis County, Mo., the couple decided to give their customers the same joy—by requiring that all female customers be at least 30 years old, and all men 35. … This rule has drawn widespread attention to Bliss through social media, resulting in packed dance parties and what the restaurant calls a ‘grown and sexy’ vibe. But the requirement has also raised some legal questions, as experts point out that the restaurant is treating men and women differently.”

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