Not as Deadly Due to Error; 10 Bills To Crush COVID, By Jondi Gumz

COMMUNITY NEWS

Not as Deadly Due to Error; 10 Bills To Crush COVID

By Jondi Gumz

On March 18, the federal Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention reported an error in its Covid-19 mortality data, removing 72,277 deaths, including 416 children.

The correction cut the CDC’s estimate of deaths in children by 24% to 1,341 as of March 18.

After The Guardian, based in London, reported on mortality rates for children, the CDC corrected a “coding logic error” that incorrectly added more than 72,000 Covid deaths of all ages to its data tracker.

The agency noted the change in a footnote, not explaining how the error occurred or answering a question on how long coding error was in effect, the Guardian reported.

A source familiar with the issue told The Guardian the problem came out of two questions, one asking if a person died “from illness/complications of illness,” and then asking for the date of death. If the answer was no or unknown, but the date of death was provided, the system assumed that if the “no” or “unknown” answer was in error, and switched the answer to “yes.”

Hospitalizations from the easily spread but less deadly Omicron variant peaked in January and have plummeted nationwide, in California and locally. See the federal Center for Disease Control map showing most counties green for low transmission except for high transmission in eastern Montana and the center of South Dakota.

Two years after the coronavirus pandemic began, the state Department of Public Health reports hospitalizations down from 20,000 at the peak of the Omicron surge in January to 1,300, and test positivity, 23% in January, now 1.3%.

In Santa Cruz County, only five people are hospitalized for Covid, including two in intensive care.

Proposed Bills

In January, a group based in Newbury Park, Protection of the Educational Rights of Kids, filed a lawsuit with Officer Jonathan Wiese, Fire Capt. Justus Norgood, and Police Capt. Manuel Del Toro, filed a lawsuit against the City of San Diego, seeking relief from the vaccine mandate for first responders and city employees, calling it unconstitutional.

The group is tracking 10 Covid-19 bills proposed by California lawmakers:

SB 871: To end a personal belief exemption in the state’s student vaccine mandate.

SB 866: To allow children 12 and older to get COVID vaccines without parental consent.

SB 920: To authorize a medical board to inspect a doctor’s office and records without patient consent.

SB 1464: To require law enforcement officers to enforce public health orders.

SB 1479: To mandate Covid testing plans at schools.

SB 1390: To prohibit a social media platform from amplifying harmful content such as misinformation or disinformation.

SB 1184: To authorize a health care provider or plan to disclose your child’s medical information to a school-linked services coordinator without parent consent.

AB 1793: To require schools, childcare facilities, family childcare homes, and county human services agencies to disclose vaccination information and assess vaccination status of pupils and clients in a public health emergency.

AB 1993: To mandate vaccines for all employees and independent contractors — and require employers to verify their workers are immunized.

AB 2098: To classify a physician and surgeon disseminating or promoting misinformation or disinformation related to COVID-19 as unprofessional conduct and grounds for disciplinary action.

To track these bills, see https:// leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

Dr. Pamela Popper of Ohio has sued HHS, FDA and CDC concerning vaccines for kids under 16, and hopes to get discovery, the point at which both sides can get evidence. Updates are at https:// makeamericansfreeagain.com/

Signs of Normalcy

Want to travel again? Kayak.com reports the United Kingdom, Slovenia and Denmark are open to visitors — with no Covid-19 restrictions.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams lifted the vaccine mandate for performers and professional athletes, which means Kyrie Irving, a top player for the Brooklyn Nets who was unable to play at home because he opted out of the Covid vaccination, can now play.

Santa Cruz County closed the vaccination site at Felton Community Hall March 9 after giving 2,000 vaccinations and referred residents to the newly opened Santa Cruz Community Health office in Ben Lomond. On March 27, the county closed the vaccine clinic at the old Watsonville City Hall, where 20,000 vaccinations were given.

A new Omicron variant called BA.2 “appears to be about 50% more transmissible than the original omicron strain BA.1, according to UC Davis Health. “Preliminary data suggests omicron BA.1 causes the same severity of disease and symptoms, but it’s affecting younger people more.”

Two Years

Santa Cruz County, which updates its dashboard on Monday and Thursday, has 500 active cases, down from 10,000 at the peak, and three more deaths, bringing the total to 259.

Underlying conditions were a factor in 19 of the 20 most recent local deaths during the peak of the highly contagious and thought-to-be-mild Omicron variant.

The latest deaths were people 65 and older, two with underlying conditions. The county website lists vaccination status in death as “yes” or “no.”

The most COVID fatalities in the county occurred in January 2021, when vaccines were not available and 22 people died in one week.

There’s no word on a contract agreement between registered nurses, including those at the Santa Cruz VNA, and Sutter Health.

County supervisors have chosen five members for the board of the Pajaro Valley Health Care District Project, the local consortium awarded the bid to buy Watsonville Community Hospital, which has 620 employees, and shares the treatment of Covid-19 patients with Dominican Hospital. See the report by County Supervisor Zach Friend in this issue.

To donate to the consortium, see www. pvhdp.org/

Pajaro Valley Schools

Test positivity for the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, which reports testing for public schools, is 1.06 percent, lower than the state.