COVID Update: Friday, May 7

Former Councilmember John Duran has been doing daily COVID updates on his Facebook page since March 2020. Many members of the community have found them helpful. They are republished here with his permission.

414 COVID cases announced in LA County yesterday along with 19 additional deaths.   Positivity rate remains low and unchanged at .7%.  Hospitalizations decease slightly below 400 again.

G’DAY MATE !!!!   AUSTRALIA ROCKIN IT !

Time magazine has a great article on Australia knocking COVID out and returning to normal pre pandemic life. 

Australia’s borders remain closed.  The only people allowed to travel there are Australian citizens, permanent residents and immediate family members.   They also invested early in contact tracing when the pandemic started.    Now granted, Australia has 25 million people compared to 40 million in the State of California alone.    But if the Aussies (and New Zealand Kiwis next door can do it) – we should be able to do the same in CA.   The problem is that we cannot control the the other 49 states and how they are doing.   Which sadly, varies state to state depending on their state government.

Trump deferred to the States in the early days of the epidemic rather than seeing this as a national issue that we are all in together.   What a wasted opportunity.    Could have unified our sad and fractured country around an emergency epidemic.  But no.  Instead we got hydroxychlorine, drinking bleach, it’s a hoax and UV cathode ray tubes up the arse.    So sad to think about the “what ifs”…….

VACCINATION RATES IN LA COUNTY LOWEST FOR YOUNG LATINO AND BLACK RESIDENTS

The front page of the CA section of the LA Times today tells us one of the biggest obstacles to improvement here at home.  Young Latino and Black people have the lowest rates of COVID 19 vaccinations of all age, racial and ethnic groups in LA County.

Only 18% of Black men and 20% of Black women between the ages of 16 and 29 have received at least one dose of the vaccine.   And only 24% of Latino men and 31% of Latina women between the ages of 16 and 29 have.

By comparison, 43% of white men and 51% of white women within the same age group have received at least one dose. 

Young Asians are rocking it with 57% of Asian American men and 65% of Asian American women in the same age group getting at least one dose.   And finally, 43% of Native American men and 53% of Native American women in the same age group have. 

Which leads to the question – what efforts will the LA County Board of Supervisors make to change these statistics?   All 5 Supervisors are women.  One is a Black woman – Supervisor Holly Mitchell.  One is a Latina woman (and a friend of my late mother) Hilda Solis.  Sheila Kuehl is Supervisor for the Westside and San Fernando Valley with large Latino population.   Janice Hahn (a friend of mine) is Long Beach and the South Bay  with large Black and Latino populations.   Kathryn Barger represents the Antelope Valley also with large Black and Latino populations.

No.  This isn’t a time to defer to staff or wait for Dr. Barbara Ferrer to figure it out.  You were voted to lead.   For the sake of community – LEAD!   Who are the social media influencers?   What celebrities do you need to enlist?   What community centers in neighborhoods can host vaccination days and events?   Who are the Ipod or radio talk show hosts locally who can make a difference?    

It’s not about access alone.  It’s about marketing and branding.   The first 50% of the county population is the easiest.   But if we are going to try and reach the next 20% to get to 70% – you need to get out of your bureaucratic boxes.   Create.  Innovate.  Relate. 

Am I being critical?  YES.   Are we in the middle of an ongoing emergency crisis?  YES.    Will I make some politicians uncomfortable?  YES. 

Move.  Get.  On.  It.