- Governor Newsom is expected to announce today that seven counties can advance out of the purple tier into the red tier. And some people are saying that we will be one of them. In the red tier, more businesses are allowed to operate indoors — including movie theaters, museums, zoos, among others — with restaurants allowed up to 25% capacity indoors. Gyms would be able to operate at 10% of their capacity indoors. Yesterday there were 269 new covid infections and no deaths.
- If you need help with rent and utility bills you can apply for funds starting today. Applications for San Diego County’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program will be open from March 2-16. The program is meant for struggling families, particularly low-income renters who lost wages because of the coronavirus pandemic. The funds can be used for back rent or utilities payments, from April 2020 through March 2021. To be eligible, households must be renting and have experienced a financial hardship related to COVID-19, or have qualified for unemployment during the pandemic. Eligible hardships include a reduction in household income or incurring significant costs making you at risk of losing your home. A single-person household can’t earn more than $64,700 and a four-person household can’t earn more than $92,400. Once your application is received, the county will prioritize based on need and depending on where you live. Applicants cannot be receiving any other rental assistance. First priority will be given to households with incomes below 50% of the average, individuals who have been out of work for three months or more and single-parent households. The application can be found on the San Diego County Housing And Community Development Services website.
- The Carlsbad Flower Fields opened to the public yesterday for the 2021 season, and this year they’ve added some experiences for visitors. Right now, there are very few flowers but the peak of the bloom is expected in mid-April. However, this year, for the first time, people can pick baskets of blueberries to take home from your visit. There are four varieties of blueberries, each with a slightly different taste. You can pick your own berries for $5 dollars a basket. So if you want to go right now, you can walk around, enjoy the views, and pick blueberries. The Flower Field are open to the public from March 1 to May 6. Reservation are required and visitors must wear masks while on the property. The entrance fee is $20 for adults and $10 for children.
(photo credit: Getty Images)
- California expects to receive about 1.1 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine over the next three weeks. This vaccine has less fewer handling restrictions compared to Moderna and Pfizer. The Johnson and Johnson vaccine is a single-dose shot that can be stored in regular refrigerators, which may make distribution easier and it’s found to be 72% effective at preventing COVID-19 symptoms and 86% effective at preventing severe disease. Meanwhile, San Diego County health officials say about 10% of residents are fully vaccinated. Yesterday there were 269 new covid infections and no deaths.
- Yesterday Governor Newsom announced a multibillion- dollar deal aimed at enticing schools to resume in-person instruction for young students by April 1. Under the new deal, schools would get money if they reopened by the deadline. The money will go toward safety improvements, such as ventilation systems and protective equipment. The proposal does not order schools to reopen, but schools that fail to do so by April 1 will lose a percentage of their funds for every day they miss the deadline. However due to the existing San Diego Unified plans for covid vaccinations of teachers and reduced transmission rate, it’s not likely the district will meet that date. Their original date set was April 12th provided we fall back into the red tier.
(photo credit: Getty Images
- San Diego Comic-Con is going virtual for the second year in a row. However they do have plans for a smaller in person even later in the year. So pretty much there could be two versions of Comic-Con San Diego in 2021 -- one virtual experience and the other a much smaller in-person event later in the year. They are looking at November for that event. People who bought badges for the 2020 convention and had them rolled over to 2021 will have those badges rolled over into 2022, unless they request a refund. If you want to request a refund go to comic-con.org.
- Everyone’s been wearing masks, but is your mask too thin? Well if you don’t know now you have an easy way to find out. You can use your cell phone flashlight to find out! You hold up your mask with a cell phone light behind it. If you can see the actual light bulb through the material, it's too thin. Seeing a spotlight is fine, seeing light between the threads of the mask is not. If you don't see any specific dots of light, that’s better, that's more protective