COVID PM: State population takes rare dip; Californians recognize Asian-American discrimination
Hello everybody,
It was another busy day on the pandemic beat. Here are your COVID PM storylines for Friday, May 7 ...
On the California front
California’s population shrank in 2020, but don’t call it an exodus: According to new data released today by the state Department of Finance, California’s population declined by 182,083 people in 2020. That’s the first time that annual statistic has come with a minus sign since 1900, when the department began collecting these estimates. The new report adds a disappointing coda to what has already been a dour few weeks for California’s demographers. More from CalMatters on that here.
Another take: Here is the LA Times’ assessment on the situation.
Pediatricians can bypass MyTurn as they vaccinate children: In an effort to accelerate vaccination of teens, California health officials say they will allow pediatricians to obtain doses without going through the state’s problematic registration site. Children ages 12 to 15 may become eligible for COVID-19 vaccines next week. More from CalMatter on that here.
Californians are finally acknowledging Asians are ‘frequently’ discriminated against, survey shows: The survey also found that 73% of Asian residents worry about being victims of a hate crime. That’s higher than the share of Black and Latino residents, 61% and 58% respectively. More from the LA Times on that here.
UC Santa Cruz and United Way partner to empower youth through research in local communities
UC Santa Cruz and United Way partner to empower youth through research in local communities
Quick Take
A new partnership between UC Santa Cruz and United Way will support community-engaged research and offer UCSC...
On the pandemic life front
He went to pick up his daughter. He ended up debating anti-maskers: Ending the COVID-19 pandemic will require at least some of us with brains to argue — sorry, have calm and reasoned conversations — with willful idiots. That’s a what a mild-mannered professor did after he arrived at his daughter’s school in Santa Monica one afternoon this week and found a group of anti-maskers waving signs and shouting conspiracy theories at parents and students. Read Blaine D. Pope’s story here.
A COVID vaccine with your tacos? Just a day’s work for this Muslim activist: But what gets Rida Hamida of Santa Ana national press coverage every year since 2017 is what she brought to the Islamic Center just one week ago: Taco Trucks at Every Mosque. It’s an ongoing series with a simple, brilliant premise. Taco trucks. Mosque. Cultural touchstones for two maligned groups shared so that their respective communities can meet and learn about each other and work toward political change. Read Rida’s story here.
You know what’s not rational? Telling people how to act while vaccinated: How is it that mere weeks after most Americans even became eligible for vaccination, their behavior and motives are suddenly being so scrutinized? The Times’ Mary McNamara shares her story.
Quick Take
Celebrate the MAH’s 25th Anniversary with new exhibitions and events happening throughout Santa Cruz County in 2021.
More from here & elsewhere
➤ Pressure rises for India lockdown; surge breaks record again (ABC News)
➤ Analysis: The U.S. has got first-world COVID problems (CNN)
➤ Bodies of COVID-19 victims are still stored in refrigerated trucks in NYC (CNN)
➤ D.C. residents react to mayor’s ban on dancing at weddings (USA Today)
➤ Looking For A Bed For Daddy Lolo: Inside The Philippines’ COVID Crisis (NPR)
➤ A shot for a swipe: Vaccines are the hottest new trend on dating apps (NBC News)
➤ Cruise giant Norwegian threatens to skip Florida’s ports (ABC News)
➤ What it was like drinking on the first night San Francisco opened indoor bars (SF Gate)
➤ Warriors guard Damion Lee confirms that he suffered a rare ‘breakthrough case’ of COVID (SF Gate)
➤ Largest convention booked in SF for 2021 gets canceled (SF Gate)
➤ OC man used COVID relief loans to buy Ferrari, Bentley and Lamborghini, feds say (LA Times)
Have a great weekend!
Mark Conley
Deputy Managing Editor