It's time to start a new thread on our tracking of the coronavirus. You can see the prior post from March 24th and the path of the virus' growth in the County here. Today's County report at SMChealth.org shows 16 new cases in the County for a total of 767. 67 cases are currently in hospital and 7,295 total tests have been done with a 10% positive ratio. Recall there are about 769,000 people in the County so the testing rate is still minuscule.
There was a great human interest story in the Daily Journal yesterday about Officer Steve Vega. I've chatted with the officer on the street before (the last time was in front of the Apple store during the on-going patrol there) and I'm thrilled to hear he is better. He may be down at Stanford right now donating
After recovering from COVID-19, Burlingame police Officer Steve Vega is hoping the antibodies in his blood can be used to treat others infected with the disease. Vega, 55, is among the first participants in a new effort by Stanford Blood Center to treat COVID-19 patients while the world waits for a vaccine to be developed.
The 22-year Burlingame officer is set to donate his plasma, the liquid in blood, at Stanford this Thursday and however many times is needed after that.
Also in the news is some data on how the work-at-home trend for self-isolating plays out across the economy. Having worked full-time from home for more than a decade one article about the trials the newbies are discovering was gratifying to read. On the data side, the Wall Street Journal has a piece titled "The Lucky Stay-at-home 37%"
A newly released study called “How Many Jobs Can Be Done at Home?” reckons that 37% of all U.S. jobs can plausibly be done at home, meaning that nearly two-thirds cannot. The study’s authors, from the University of Chicago’s Becker-Friedman Institute, add that their 37% estimate is at the “upper bound of what might be feasible.” Along with other studies, this one also finds that those in jobs that can be done from home “typically earn more.” By their calculations, for example, 37% of jobs that can be done at home account for 46% of all wages.
Those who have stressed the need to get our economy up and running again are sometimes criticized for favoring profits over people. But the Becker-Friedman paper underscores that those lower down on the socio-economic scale are most in need of a re-opening for their livelihoods.
That's an important point that can be missed during the high-anxiety zeitgeist we are in. Here is the Avenew showing that zeitgeist.
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