Good morning Mission and welcome to Virus Village, your (somewhat normal) Covid-19 data repository.
Hospitalizations, registered infections and positivity rates continue to rise as R-number models remain static. The good news, and the reason for the question mark, is that current sanitation efforts have leveled off or receded somewhat.
Whether or not this wave (wave, wave, bump) starts to subside, there is much more Covid on the near horizon as new, more transmissible subvariants take hold. Could this be why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention got started? to push a second booster? However, true to form, the CDC fears this Updating the vaccine can send the wrong message. Will we have a new vaccine in time for next winter’s surge? Not if Congress has its way.
A country does not wait to verify hospitalization numbers before making any preparations.
The argument that “case numbers don’t matter” might make us less anxious, but logically it doesn’t make sense given that Covid, hospitalizations and death start with infection and uncontrolled transmission means more variants with the potential to affect the vaccine and others escape. Tool”.
Speaking of long Covid, we still know next to nothing about it, although it appears to be affecting a significant number of those infected (even if asymptomatic). Most cases point to no specific cause.
I rarely read or see any of the prominent experts speaking about healthcare workers and the dire conditions prevailing in hospitals when the pandemic hit. Although ‘official’ investigations have not yet started here or in the UK, the British Medical Association has started its own review. This article focuses on the lack of personal protective equipment. “Flaws in PPE (personal protective equipment), either by shortage, wrong type or poor fit, was a phenomenon frequently reported by doctors across the board in the first few weeks of the pandemic.” It was no different at home, where hospitals preferred to protect their profit margins. What has been done to fix this problem? The CDC and prominent experts have nothing to say.
Paxlovid, one of the “tools” we have to control the virus, has a rebound effect which is getting more and more attention lately. Oddly enough, the rebound effect didn’t show up in Pfizer’s clinical trials, and apparently the company won’t be releasing any more pills for further research.
Those promoting the “tools”. don’t mention the rebound effect and seem to completely forget about ventilation and insulation support. One of the best ways to control infection is to ventilate indoor spaces. This article provides some tips that would work if you have the space or money to install the equipment.
Thanks to a comment from one of our readers, Mission Local will be publishing more reports on the disabled and immunocompromised.
Scroll down for today’s Covid numbers.
Hospital admissions have continued to rise over the past week 37 percent (represents 24 new patients). On May 21st there were DPH reports 89 Covid hospitalizations or about 10.2 Covid hospitalizations per 100,000 population (based on a population of 874,000). Although the number of intensive care patients increased by double digits during the week, on May 21 the number was back in single digits. On May 21, the California Department of Health reported 94 Covid patients in SF hospitals and 9 patients in the intensive care unit. Although case numbers are (probably) much higher than in winter 2021, hospital admissions and deaths are noticeably lower. Were these patients hospitalized? “for” Covid or “with” Covid? Are they vaccinated? How old are you? What is their race/ethnicity/socioeconomic status? Although most reputable health officials have long published these numbers, the San Francisco (and California) Department of Health has yet to find out. We are working on improving the graphics.
The latest report from the Federal Department of Health and Human Services pinpoints Zuckerberg at San Francisco General Hospital 8th Covid patients and 6 ICU beds available while CPMC had beds throughout the mission 10 Covid patients and 6 Intensive care beds available. Of 79 reported Covid patients in the city, 23 were at either SFGH or UCSF, with at least 74 ICU beds are available at reporting hospitals (which do not include the Veterans Administration or Laguna Honda). The California DPH is currently reporting 83 ICU beds available in San Francisco.
Between March 21 and May 20, DPH recorded 992 New infections among mission residents (an increase of 27 percent from last week) or 169 new infections per 10,000 inhabitants. During that period, Mission Bay had the highest rate of 291 new infections per 10,000 residents. Out of 38 neighborhoods, 29 had rates over 150 per 10,000 population, with 14 in the eastern and southeastern sectors of the city. Treasure Island had the lowest rate and Lakeshore, the only neighborhood in the city where less than 50 percent of the population was vaccinated, had the second lowest rate.
DPH reports on May 17 that the 7-day average of daily new infections recorded in the city has risen 475 or about 54.3 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants (based on a population of 874,000) that a 13.7 percent Rise from last week. According to the DPH, the average 7-day infection rate was among vaccinated residents 50.6 per 100,000 “fully vaccinated” residents and 114.1 per 100,000 unvaccinated population. It is unclear whether “fully vaccinated” means 2, 3 or 4 doses. According to the New York Times, the 7-day moving average was May 17th 503. The Times latest report states that the 7-day moving average was on May 24th 569a 54 percent increase in the last two weeks. Federal State sewage monitoring shows in the city’s southeastern sewer shed that the prevalence of the virus is either leveling off or decreasing, depending on the source and measurement.
In May, Asians have 2,658 newly registered infections or 29.8 percent the previous cases of the month; White 2.301 infections or 25.8 Percent; Latin 1,032 infections or 11.6 percent; black 312 infections or 3.5 percent; multi-racial 65 infections or 0.7 percent; Pacific Islanders 51 infections or 0.6 percent; and Indians had 23 registered infections 0.3 percent of the previous May totals.
The 7-day rolling citywide average positivity rate exceeded 11.8 percent during the past week while the average daily tests declined 9.6 percent. In May, Native Americans have a positivity rate of 13 percent previously Asians 11.6 percentLatin 10 percentmulti-racial 9.9 percentwhite 9.6 percentPacific Islanders 9.2 percentand so far this month blacks have a positivity rate of 8 percent.
Vaccination rates in SF show virtually no change from last week. From May 24th over 90 percent of all San Franciscos ages 5 and older have received at least one dose of The Vaccine, and 88 percent got two. 75 percent of residents aged 12 and over have received a booster vaccination.
For information on where to get vaccinated in and around the mission, visit our vaccination side.
Four new Covid-related deaths, including 3 more were reported in May, bringing the total since the beginning of the year 182. DPH will not say how many have been vaccinated. It also does not include information about the race/ethnicity or socioeconomic status of the recently deceased. According to DPH, “COVID-19 deaths are suspected to be related to COVID-19. That means COVID-19 is listed as a cause of death or serious condition on the death certificate.” With a sentence like “suspected of being related‘ points to the difficulty of determining a Covid death. The fog is only thickening, as DPH reports, as it has been for months 21 the deaths were known to have no underlying diseases or comorbidities. DPH only provides cumulative figures on deaths. Their figures show that little has changed since the beginning, like 72.5 percent of Covid-related deaths in San Francisco are among those over 70.
The lack of reliable data on the number of infections makes estimates of the R number very uncertain. The May 20 Covid R estimate estimated the San Francisco R number had dropped somewhat to 1.48 while the estimate for the California R number remained 1.57 on May 23rd. The ensemble increased its estimate of the San Francisco R Number on May 22 1.12 and upped his California R number 1.03. Note: Only one model shows SF below 1 .91.
In May, San Franciscos had ages 0-4 376 registered infections 4.2 percent of infections registered so far this month; 5-11 380 infections or 4.3 percent; 12-17 323 infections or 3.6 percent; 18-20 190 infections or 2.1 percent; 21-24 522 infections or 5.8 percent; 25-29 1.105 infections or 12.4 percent; 30-39 2.133 infections or 23.9 percent; 40-49 1,379 infections or 15.4 percent; 50-59 1.153 infections or 12.9 percent; 60-69 760 infections or 8.5 percent; 70-79 401 infections or 4.5 percent; and those San Franciscans aged 80 and over had 207 infections or 2.3 percent of infections registered so far in May.
