Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Covid Fine

I'm poaching the Five Man Electrical Band's sole hit song "Signs" for this post about Covid violation fines

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?

And the sign said anybody caught trespassin' would be shot on sight
So I jumped on the fence and-a yelled at the house, "Hey! What gives you the right?"

The Daily Post is leading the way on reporting what SM County Manager Mike Callagy said Wednesday about businesses getting fined for not filing plans with the county or posting signs about social distancing or wearing masks.  He said he "didn't have the exact number of tickets that have been handed out but 747 complaints have come into the county about businesses.  The county's Board of Supervisors on Aug. 4 approved a set of Covid-related fines for businesses, ranging from $250 to $3,000.  He said of the complaints, 24% are from San Mateo, 16% from Redwood City and 10% in Burlingame.  The businesses commonly cited are gyms and "tend to operate at night".

Pretty amazing since long time B'gamers are aware of another business that "tends to operate at night" and yet seldom gets cited.  Some of these businesses are on the Bayfront and others on the side streets of B'way.  We are leading the way here though since San Mateo is 3 1/2 times our size but only has 2 1/2 times as many complaints.  OK.  Now I'll retract my tongue from my cheek and suggest a) this may not be the best way to go about it, b) does anyone really need a sign to know about wearing a mask and c) can we just leave the gyms to exercise good judgement as the main purveyors of good health in town?

 

Comments

[Joe -- Weekend Update on the Numbers]

Here is the Saturday update from County data:

Total Cases: 17,724 (+2,256 from last week, so growing at twice the rate from last week.)

R-eff: 1.24 (up 0.03 this week)

Positivity: 3.25% from the start of the pandemic, which is actually down a bit. 3.7% for the last 30 days which is up a bit.

Burlingame Cases: 347 (+38 for the week, so twice as many as last week.)

[Support Small Businesses]

Supervisor Canepa wants to kill small businesses in the county by shutting down outdoor dining and salons before it is required by the state. I have asked multiple times and he has provided no evidence or data that the virus is spreading in those locations. Dr. Morrow continues to state that the spread is coming primarily from private gatherings and crowded living situations. Canepa is an attention seeking grandstander who certainly is eying higher office, I do hope voters remember this.

[Growling Tiger]

Yep, another cut in the mold of Josh Becker. No real accomplishments except fooling a bunch of voters. Like Newsom.

[HMB]

Sanitizers may be great for things you touch but they're not going to clear the air of germs people are coughing and sneezing and breathing into the air. Well, maybe they do until people walk in and start coughing and sneezing and talking and breathing again. And all the photos I've seen of people spraying that stuff in planes and office buildings are wearing respirators.

[Paloma Ave]

Canepa is a major embarrassment. He is our local media (rhymes with bore).

Canepa must have taken lessons from Allred.

[Joe]

OK, here we go..............

As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations surge and ICU capacity declines, San Mateo and 10 other Bay Area counties are under a mandatory Regional Stay At Home Order that takes effect Thursday, Dec. 17, at 11:59 p.m.
The order prohibits private gatherings of any size, except for outdoor church services and political demonstrations. Restaurants must stop offering in-person dining and can offer only take-out and delivery. Many businesses and activities must close, including salons and barbershops. Retail can remain open at 20 percent capacity. Nonessential travel and the use of hotels or short-term rentals for leisure is banned.

The state of California announced the order today as regional ICU bed capacity fell below 15 percent, a trigger threshold. The rules will remain in effect for at least three weeks.

Outdoor activities like walking, hiking, cycling and outdoor religious ceremonies are permitted. Schools that have already reopened for in-person classes under a plan reviewed by San Mateo County Health and the San Mateo County Office of Education may remain open.

All retail operations and shopping centers are limited to 20 percent capacity (35 percent for stand-alone grocery stores) with entrance metering.

[Barking Dog]

Alright, so it's "dire." So why aren't you asking for a hospital ship, and setting up temporary hospitals? Why aren't you asking the military to help out? What about all those ventilators we've made? How's your public health department administering vaccines? What exactly are you doing, besides going our for fancy dinners and your kids going to in-person school while you expect everyone else to languish at home?

[Joe]

From today's WSJ for the Totally Predictable and the Silver Lining files:

“We are seeing very low levels of influenza so far,” said Daniel Jernigan, director of the influenza division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Between mask wearing, social distancing, and measures such as bar closures, “all of those things are impacting influenza,” he said.

Clinical laboratories tested 22,474 patient samples, mostly nasal swabs, for influenza during the week ended Dec. 5, and only 40, or 0.2%, came back positive, according to data from the CDC. During the same period last year, more than 11% of over 41,000 samples were positive.

[Joe - Weekend Update on the Numbers]

Here is the Saturday update from County data:

Total Cases: 20,479 (+2,755 from last week, so 500 more than last week's increase.)

R-eff: 1.39 (up 0.15 this week)

Positivity: 3.7% from the start of the pandemic. 4.6% for the last 30 days which is up 1.1%.

Burlingame Cases: 448 (+101 for the week, so THREE times as many as last week.)

With the shutdown of even outdoor dining, things are looking grim. I walked the avenue midday today and it was busy--coffee and juice and Apple products mainly. There are 18 vacant retail spaces on the Ave, including some very large ones.

[hollyroller@gmail.com]

Thank you for sharing this information Joe. Observing and reporting this (Covid) information to the BV must wear you down.
Don't forget to take care of yourself and Loved Ones.
Thank you Joe.
Merry Christmas.

[Joe]

You're welcome, hollyroller. It is not that much effort really. Five clicks on the County website and a couple of subtractions. It makes me feel like I have a handle on the numbers which is scary/comforting.

Apple announced they are shutting all 53 stores in the state for awhile. And in news from the City:

Fifty-eight more people died of drug overdoses in San Francisco last month, bringing the yearly total to at least 621. That compares to 441 deaths in all of 2019.

The latest numbers put San Francisco on track to losing nearly two people a day by the end of the year and dwarf the 173 deaths from COVID-19 the city has seen so far this year.
----------------
621/173 = 3.6 times as many opioid fatalities as Covid this year.

[Wunderkind]

Pssst. Here’s what’s happening with the COVID-19 surge...

Remember the olden days, the golden days of the seasonal flu? How you’d be sick but still go to work, go on vacation, visit the relatives because, yes, you were sick, but not too sick? Other people might get sick, but it’s just the flu season. Remember those days?

Same thing now with the COVID-19 surge. People know that they may be sick and make others sick, but as long as they stay away from fragile Granny and sickly Uncle Frank, people are going to live their lives.

Is this thoughtless or cruel? No. It’s as thoughtful as ever and as compassionate as reality permits.

After all, 99.9% of the infected get better.

[hollyroller@gmail.com]

Barking Dog, have you had your Rabie/Distemper Shot lately?
If that is not the problem BD, I Vote for you to go to the "Head of the Line" for the "Shots."
As a matter of fact, I would like to see you get every medical shot known to man.
That way, we won't miss anything...
Merry Christmas.

[Barking Dog]

Heavy hand making the egg nog last night holly?

[Paloma Ave]

Holy Roller - Those meds don't work unless you take them EVERYDAY!

[hollyroller@gmail.com]

Oh. I was wondering.
Anyway, Merry Christmas Paloma Ave.
I will be looking forward to your "Inane" New Year POV's as all of us on the BV.
Don't worry Paloma Ave.
I will still be here for you this year and next. My BV Fans demand it.

[Joe - updated numbers]

Christmas falling on Friday delayed the update from the County, so today's update has two extra days included.

Total Cases: 23,681 (+3,202 from last week, so 50 less than last week's increase with the extra days also.)

R-eff: 1.22 (down 0.17 this week)

Positivity: 3.9% from the start of the pandemic. 5.5% for the last 30 days which is up .9%.

Burlingame Cases: 540 (+92 for the week, so down slightly from last week.)

The curve eased up a bit over the last nine days, but we now wait to see what people did over the holiday.

[CABetter]

https://datausa.io/coronavirus

Anyone who reviews the numbers knows to be smart but not to be alarmed.

200 Deaths in San Mateo County out of 769,000 people. Very low concern as far as we can see.

Libnuts scaring our citizens and it is the same ones who invented Global Warming, Sea-level rising, and Man-made Climate Change.

Big BS.

[CABetter]

FLU or Covid? Can't tell they say.

https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/09/418606/can-you-tell-if-its-flu-or-covid-19-doctors-say-its-not-so-clear

[Wunderkind]

If I ran the zoo:

Media says who is to be vaccinated, who is next.
Times and locations are announced. Hospitals, drugstores, churches, event centers, high schools are vaccinating 24/7.

National Guard trained and activated to inject the vaccine.

I want to see planes landing, semis rolling, traffic cones gleaming, parking lots filling, people lining up.

Instead, crickets.

Remember smallpox and polio treatments? We lined up and got fixed.

Who do you know who has been vaccinated?
Stories anyone?

[Joe]

New Years Day falling on Friday delayed the update from the County, so today's update includes yesterday's numbers.

Total Cases: 25,724 (+2,043 from last week, so 1,159 LESS than last week's increase.)

R-eff: 1.22 (same as last week)

Positivity: 3.9% from the start of the pandemic. 5.7% for the last 30 days which is up .2%- so stable.

Burlingame Cases: 628 (+88 for the week, so down very slightly again from last week.)

It was a very stable week and we are on the cusp of the Christmas surge (IF there is to be one.) The 1/3/21 update is 9 days post-Christmas.

[Joe]

Getting back to the regular Saturday update based on County data through Friday, here are the changes for the last 5 days:

Total Cases: 27,754 (+2,030 from last week, so just 13 cases different (less))

R-eff: 1.28 (up .06 from last week)

Positivity: 4.1% from the start of the pandemic. 6.4% for the last 30 days which is up .7% in the last five days. Pretty stable.

Burlingame Cases: 710 (+82 in five days compared to +88 for the prior period that was two days longer--stable.)

It feels like BSD and SMUSHD are going to have to make a decision pretty soon on school reopening (at least hybrid, 2-3 days per week) as the numbers just don't show a real surge. Are we following "the science"?