Covid Tracker: 31,259 cases, 324 deaths

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Good Morning, Mission! Welcome to Virus Village, your daily Covid-19 data dump.

San Francisco has opened its first commnity vaccination site. Where? In the Mission. Annika and Lydia report on Day One.

In case you missed it, the race between the vaccine and the variations has been won by the variations. Dr. Fauci says the variations should be a “wake up call”. Really Doc? After this year, who can sleep? Dr. Michael Osterholm has added his name to those who want to prioritize first dose vaccinations to minimize the expected variation surge coming soon.

Increased community testing over the past weeks has meant increased care for those testing positive. The Latino Task Force has responded with Community Wellness Teams led by Susana and Susy Rojas.

Meet Mike Jones and get to know who’s working down below ground at the 24th Street BART station.

While waiting for the Vaccination, scroll down for today’s Covid numbers.

Though California has been complaining over lack of suppy, for the first time the state has managed to use over 50 percent of what’s on hand. In San Francisco, as of January 30, DPH reports 9 percent (64,407) of San Francisco residents over 18 had received one dose, and 2 percent (17,069) had received two.   For the week ending January 29, the seven day rolling average of shots per day was 3,532. The DPH goal is 10,000 shots per day.

Estimates for San Francisco’s R Number continue place it below .80 meaning community spread is “likely decreasing.” Estimates for California’s R Number range between .69 to .94 with an average of .77.  

Between December 30 and January 28, the Mission logged 618 new cases or 103.6 new cases per 10,000 residents. Over that time span, Bayview Hunters Point had a rate 194.7 new cases per 10,000 residents, Visitacion Valley 167.8, Tenderloin 122.4, Excelsior 119.4,  SOMA 100.1, Bernal Heights 94.7, Western Addition 77.3, Nob Hill 74.1, Hayes Valley 60, Chinatown 58.4, Castro 51.2, Haight Ashbury 44.3, Noe Valley 40, Inner Richmond 36.9, Inner Sunset 36.2 and Glen Park 34.7 new cases per 10,000 residents.

For the week ending January 24, the seven-day average of daily new cases dropped only a bit to 172, or 19.7 new cases per day per 100,000 residents. 

Based on the group’s resident population, as of January 29, DPH reports Latinx residents had a case rate of 182.1 for the month,  Blacks 92.4, Asians 50, and Whites 46.1. Citywide the rate was 77.1. “Other” had  a case rate of 747.1 indicating this data is not being very well kept or reported.

A correction from yesterday. The number of ICU Covid patients in SF hospitals has fallen below 50 for the first time since December 26. Today’s numbers include 3 ICU transfers, and 1 transfer in Acute Care. For the week ending January 30, the rate of weekly change in Covid positive patients fell  8 percent.   During that week,  the seven-day average availability of ICU beds was 24 percent and for Acute Care beds 23 percent. On January 29, DPH reports Covid patients comprised  17 percent of available ICU beds and 8 percent available Acute Care beds .  DPH continues to assert 100 percent of required PPE on hand. 

Even as hospitalizations decline in the City, the burden remains heavy at SFGH.  Latest figures from the Feds show SFGH with 98 percent occupancy and 0 avaiable ICU beds.

The patient load in Calfornia hospitals is easing, but very slowly.

As of January 29, Pacific Islanders were testing at a rate of 653.3 tests per 1000 residents, Native Americans 474, Blacks  243.4, Whites 195.1, Latinx 184.5, and Asians 172.5 tests per 1000 residents.  

The positivity rate in California has dropped below 8 percent for the first time since December 4. Why? No one really knows.

The Latinx death toll in and around L.A. from the latest surge has been devastating with the average number of daily deaths increasing by 1000 percent. 

Between December 1 and January 24, deaths in nursing homes (“skilled nursing facilities”) rose 140 percent. Though still less than the national figure, nursing home deaths now make up more than 27 percent of the City’s Covid death toll.