COVID Tracker: 36,414 cases, 540 deaths

Good Morning Mission, and welcome to Virus Village, your daily Covid-19 data dump.

To Mask or Not to Mask (again!). The CDC issued new guidance removing masks from vaccinated people in most instances. Like all mask guidelines and regulations issued so far in the pandemic, this one has prompted jubiliation in some quarters, confusion and concern in others.

San Francisco has now begun vaccinating children over 12. Though another step in fully reopening schools, as noted yesterday, not everyone thinks this is a wise move.

While California has a civil rights law that curbs immunity for police misconduct, it appears the law has no teeth.

Will the new stop and search policy mandated by the Police Commission make a difference? The Chief hopes it will “start to change the narrative.”

That should put you in the mood for a big burger and/or a drink.

Scroll down for today’s Covid numbers.

The CDC data used for the chart lags behind the data supplied from SFDPH. As of May 13, DPH reports over 75 percent (578,213) of San Francisco residents over 16 had received one dose, and 59 percent (453,125) are completely vaccinated. On May 13, the seven-day rolling average of shots per day was 7,405. For information on where to get vaccinated in and around the Mission, visit our Vaccination Page.

The R Number remains strangely stable. Covid-19 R Estimation continues to put its average estimate for the San Francisco R number around .85, while maintaining its estimate for California around .95. All models in the ensemble show San Francisco and California below 1, with a San Francisco average estimate of .77, while California’s average estimate remains around .86.

Between April 10 and May 9, DPH reports 73 new cases in the Mission or 12.2 new cases per 10,000 residents. Bayview Hunters Point remains the City’s hottest spot with 93 new cases over the past month or 25 new cases per 10,000 residents. Only 8 neighborhoods in the City had rates over 10 new cases per 10,000 residents:Bayview Hunters Point, Western Addition, Visitacion Valley, FiDi/South Beach, Potrero Hill, Marina, Mission and SOMA.

For the week ending May 6, the seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in the City was 23 new cases, or 2.6 new cases per day per 100,000 residents.

More than half (maybe 75 percent) of the nation’s farmworkers are undocumented, most from Mexico and Central America. It’s one of the most dangerous jobs in the country, and workers have been denied Covid protection, vaccination and basic healthcare.

Reflecting a small rise in Acute Care patients at the beginning of the week, for the week ending May 10, the rate of weekly change in Covid positive patients rose 9 percent. During that week, the seven-day average availability of ICU beds was 35 percent and Acute Care availability was 25 percent. On May 10, DPH reports Covid patients comprised 1.75 percent of ICU occupancy and 1 percent of Acute Care occupancy and the City had 100 percent ICU and 100 percent Acute Care surge capacity.

The latest data from the Federal Health and Human Services department shows last week that of 23 reported Covid patients in SF hospitals, SFGH, UCSF and Kaiser had 15.

The Citywide average positivity rate has been below 1 percent since April 11. Less than 6,000 tests have been administered daily in the City since Februrary 28, 43 percent collected by the City.

Latinx who have yet to receive a Covid shot are about twice as likely as Whites or Blacks to say they’d like to get vaccinated as soon as possible, but still face obstacles such as access and and information.

San Francisco’s first Covid-related death in May has been reported by DPH. The April toll is back up to 6.