Hey, folks: It’s a Happy Covid 2021 Event Night here at Lookout and I’m super excited to see how much smarter I get on a topic that’s been vexing all of us for far too long now.
Even if it’s just one important factoid from the mouths of Gail Newel, Marm Kilpatrick or Erica Padilla-Chavez that sticks, I’m gonna feel like a winner.
If you’re getting this newsletter, you probably know all there is to know about tonight’s Zoom event that kicks off at 6 p.m. and will last until 7:30 p.m. But just in case you’d been procrastinating and planned to make a game-time decision on this one, here’s where you go to sign up and here’s where you can add your question to the mix.
One last item of business (tell your people to sign up for this newsletter and my text alerts here, or text “Covid” to 831-508-7524) and then let’s get to the COVID happenings of the day.
Active cases continue to fall; Moderna un-paused
COVID TODAY: It was good news/bad news Thursday on the vaccine front: While the California Department of Public Health officially announced that the Moderna vaccine lot that had been on “pause” was safe for distribution, state epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan predicted that with the current pace of distribution it could take months to vaccinate the 65 and older population.
While seven new county deaths were reported Thursday, active cases of COVID-19 continued to decline, dropping from 2,753 yesterday to 2,637. Cases are re-classified from “active” to “recovered” after 21 days. The falling numbers mean more people are recovering than are being diagnosed.
➤ READ MALLORY PICKETT’S UPDATE HERE
‘It’s changed who I am’: The life of a nurse in the pandemic
The pandemic has taken a toll on Dominican Hospital ER nurse Kirsten Palmquist and her family. Long days. Endless streams of patients. Surges on top of surges. But she is steadfast in her commitment to her calling.
➤ READ PATRICK RILEY’S STORY HERE
More from here & elsewhere
➤ Vaccinating Californians 65 and older may last till June, pushing back timetable for others (LA Times)
➤ Biden immediately turns to boosting federal COVID-19 response (LA Times)
➤ ‘How am I going to keep this up?’ COVID intensifies plight of family caregivers (CalMatters)
➤ ‘The separate and unequal health system’ highlighted by COVID-19 (NPR)
➤ Newsom promised 1 million COVID-19 vaccinations. California can’t tell if he hit his goal (LA Times)
➤ Coronavirus variant found in Denmark is increasingly common in Northern California (LA Times)
➤ COVID-19 is crushing Mexico City’s food scene and the culinary energy that has made it so thrilling (LA Times)
#BOLO: This just in: The county will hold a Health Care Leadership Press Conference tomorrow at 1 p.m. Be On The Lookout for email and text alerts on how to watch that live.
That’s it for tonight — we’ve got places to be. Drop me a note and let me know what you thought of the event.
Mark Conley
Deputy Managing Editor