Reading Between the Masked Bites This Holiday Season

After denying that he issued guidelines for family “gatherings” during the holidays, California Gov. Gavin Newsom assured everyone last week that he and his staff would be issuing specific COVID guidelines for Thanksgiving and other winter holidays “soon.”

And who can forget when Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “office” Tweeted out a ridiculous message: “Going out to eat with members of your household this weekend? Don’t forget to keep your mask on in between bites. Do your part to keep those around you healthy.”

Oct. 13th, the Globe reported Gov. Gavin Newsom and his California Department of Public Health issued another “new” set of  social distancing guidelines prohibiting gatherings that include more than three households at any time. The Oct. 9 document, “Mandatory Requirements for All Gatherings,” explains that all private gatherings must limit the number of attendees and are required to be held outside.

“Gatherings are defined as social situations that bring together people from different households at the same time in a single space or place.  When people from different households mix, this increases the risk of transmission of COVID-19.”

The timing of the orders led nearly everyone who heard about it to assume they were about Halloween and Thanksgiving. What other “gatherings” could he have been referencing at this time of year?

Additionally, Newsom is gearing up for continued statewide lockdowns with the opening of his new high-tech COVID-19 testing lab in Valencia, which is designed to significantly increase California’s coronavirus testing.

More tests = more “cases.” And more “cases” is what Gov. Newsom is using to keep the state in lockdown.

This new high-tech lab is costing taxpayers $25 million however, Gov. Newsom admitted that it actually cost $100 million upfront for the facility, including the building and scientific equipment inside, ABC7 reported.

The lab is said to be able to process 150,000 tests per day when it reaches full capacity in March.

March 2021. The governor is ramping up testing, into March 2021. Last week he said COVID-19 numbers have been trending “slightly up.”

“But it’s actually a little more dire than that,” Deadline.com reported. “The state’s 7-day rolling average of daily new cases on Wednesday was 4,393, according to the Governor. The number of daily cases reported on Thursday was 4,191. Those numbers contrast with most recent the single-day low of 2,666 seen on October 13.”

“We’ve got to box this disease in,” Newsom said. More testing is foundational. But what you do after the tests is the real test of the leadership we need to see at the local, regional, state and federal level. And that is tracing and making sure we’re isolating and quarantining individuals so they can recover and we can mitigate the spread for asymptomatic, pre-symptomatic individuals, or those that are experiencing symptoms. Timely testing is foundational in terms of advancing those goals.”

“Honestly, I don’t care about Thanksgiving or Halloween right now… I just want to get back to work,” a Deadline reader commented on the story. “It has been 8 months that I’ve been unable to work. Who cares about holidays when some of us are still not working?!? It’s time to reopen ALL the businesses NOW! When we will all be homeless, it will be too late!”

Gov. Newsom says the new testing facility “has already created 300 new California jobs in Southern California and will employ 700 people at full capacity.”

Now he cares about jobs after destroying California’s economy… but not the thousands employed at the still locked down Disneyland.

California’s coronavirus numbers, even with the ongoing business lockdown restrictions, reflect the same averages as the rest of the country and Europe, despite the hyperbolic Deadline.com. Actual physicians say these weekly averages are not relevant other than to continue to keep people scared. They also say “cases” are not positive tests, but actual cases sick enough to be in the hospital or deceased from coronavirus.

Who are all of these people getting tested? And why if most of them are negative tests?

California Statewide Coronavirus details:

18,743,315 total Californians tested.

926,534 tested positive.

17,816,781 California residents tested negative for coronavirus.

17,667 total deaths in California attributed to coronavirus, which we know of many of those deaths, coronavirus was present when the patient passed away, and did not die from coronavirus.

Around the state, counties show quite different results:

Updates for El Dorado County

As of October 30, 2020 and will be reflected on the dashboard by 1:00pm

Sacramento County dashboard:

529,054 tested.

26,185 tested positive.

502,869 tested negative for coronavirus.

500 deaths.

Los Angeles County dashboard:

3,141,284 total tested.

309,190 total positive tests.

2,832,094 tested negative for coronavirus.

7,074 deaths attributed to coronavirus.

San Francisco City and County dashboard:

688,151 total tested for coronavirus.

12,454 tested positive for coronavirus.

675,697 tested negative for coronavirus. 

148 deaths attributed to coronavirus.

Siskiyou County Dashboard:

11,175 total tested for coronavirus.

241 tested positive.

10,943 tested negative for coronavirus.

0 deaths for coronavirus in Siskiyou County.

And we are still being told to “Stay home as much as possible. Avoid gatherings. Wear face coverings.”

Unsure of the details telling Californians just how to gather with friends?

The CDPH explains:

Keep it short

• Gatherings should be two hours or less.  The longer the duration, the risk of transmission increases.

Rules for Singing, Chanting, and Shouting at Outdoor Gatherings 

• Singing, chanting, shouting, and physical exertion significantly increases the risk of COVID-19 transmission because these activities increase the release of respiratory droplets and fine aerosols into the air. Because of this, singing, chanting, and shouting are strongly discouraged, but if they occur, the following rules and recommendations apply:
  • All people who are singing or chanting should wear a face covering at all times while singing or chanting, including anyone who is leading a song or chant. Because these activities pose a very high risk of COVID-19 transmission, face coverings are essential to reduce the spread of respiratory droplets and fine aerosols;
  • People who are singing, shouting, chanting, or exercising are strongly encouraged to maintain physical distancing beyond 6 feet to further reduce risk.
  • People who are singing or chanting are strongly encouraged to do so quietly (at or below the volume of a normal speaking voice).
• Instrumental music is allowed as long as the musicians maintain at least 6-foot physical distancing. Musicians must be from one of the three households.  Playing of wind instruments (any instrument played by the mouth, such as a trumpet or clarinet) is strongly discouraged.

Be sure to stay away from those dreaded wind instruments. As for requiring gatherings two hours or less because “the longer the duration, the risk of transmission increases,” this is totally arbitrary.

And since riots and protests don’t count as “gatherings,” many say they are holding a protest over the killing of a large bird on Thursday November 26th, and asking fellow protesters to bring a side dish.