Governor Newsom Announces New Immediate Actions to Curb COVID-19 Transmission

I'm with you LFG this is beyond crazy. It is so simple, at-risk, stay home stay safe. Simply want to stay home and stay safe, that is okay too! No need to force your will on everyone else. Many are stuck in March 2020 and think millions of California's are going to die.... that would have never happened even if we ignored covid (yet Newsome used that as the justification to start this unconstitutional power trip). Fear not Facts.

LooseCannon: It's the same reason that Gov. Newsom pushes the state health warnings, shames the hoi polloi Californians, and then himself goes to the French Laundry in Napa and then, when caught, apologizes. He hasn't (yet) apologized for sending his 4 children to private school. There's something about apologies: I watched the excellent CNN biopic on Biden on Sunday and was struck by how often he apologized.

I agree Sacjon. There are far too many youngsters carrying about their partying and such. I can understand their frustration and wanting to carry on with life as we used to know it, but they need to think about what they are doing! Everyone here is arguing about everyone else. We have college kids across the street. Partying every other night since college started. For the last week....silent. They probably got Covid. It's these ignorant kids that are making things worse, not the rest of us who are trying to get through this without dying.

@LOOSECANNON - it's not exactly true that private schools can fully stay open. They have to continue to monitor cases in the schools - if in school cases go high enough, they will have to shut down. Basically, if 5% of the staff and students in a school test positive within a 14-day period, they must close. If 25% of the schools in a district are closed, then the district has to close. (All staff must be regularly tested.)

RHS, I know you know correlation is not causation.

I agree SACJON. At least in schools there is the ability to implement some degree of control over hygiene and behavior. Not true of big parties. And I get to witness their spreading potential first hand on a frequent basis. The vacation rental next door to me and the student party house down the block have never been busier. Never a mask in sight on the throngs spilling out onto the sidewalk, constant loud and saliva spewing bloviating, and social distancing of about 2mm. They don't care that they are likely spreading the virus, and the police don't care to stop them.

@VOR Nope! Right back at ya'. The pockets of virus spread are coming from group gatherings of "extended families" and younger people (college types and the 20 something's) that are Not wearing masks. I'll put my house on it. There are a lot of people not wearing masks, but it's not at Trader Joe's or Gelsons.

Hit the nail on the head, couldn't have said it better VOR.

Sacjon - I was responding to someone else. Apparently you are the self appointed hall monitor. Yes it may get shut down again going back to the purple tier- but the fact is that they were trying to open. Had you followed along that is exactly the point I was making.

VOR - while the school wasn't the vector for these high school students, multiple house parties WERE. This is what I can't believe you're ignoring. These unmasked gatherings are what's causing our numbers to go up. STOP THE PARTIES, etc. Enforce the rules or just shut everything down. This is ridiculous.

When there is one rule for one set of people and another set of expectations for another group, is it any wonder that there is a problem with COMPLIANCE?

What a JOKE!!!

Sacjon because in lesser developed countries parental concerns go well beyond public education and public swimming.

VOR - I disagree. Yeah, most people are wearing masks, but the hot spots are places and situations where they are NOT wearing masks and in close proximity (large rallies, IV, house parties, etc). If we curbed those large, indoor/even outdoor, mostly un-masked events, then we'd be in a better place. You can't seriously deny that.

Ah yes, you are correct, SACJON.

The Independent reports:

"For parents in Santa Barbara, this regression does not necessarily mean that in-person schooling is out of the question for their children. The schools in the area that have already made the shift to some form of in-person education may continue despite the tier change because they switched to in-person learning in a red tier.

For those in the Santa Barbara and Goleta Union school districts, it’s more dicey. As long as the county is currently in the red tier or better the week that school starts — January 19 and 11, respectively — then school may resume on campus as planned. Otherwise, they will have to remain in distance-learning models."

So the rich people applied for the waiver BEFORE we shifted back into purple, and that cannot be rescinded. Not exactly sure why (LMAO). Clearly, it has NOTHING to do with public health concerns. So rich kids get to be in school and the other kids, including mine, can go to hell.

Is this why I have been supporting unions all these years, to see them allowing this kind of class divide.

It's disgusting beyond belief. And it shakes my faith in the health authorities that it's one rule for the rich, and another for everyone else.

[INSERT MIDDLE FINGER EMOJI]

@LooseCannon, this only applies to school that have not yet reopened. Schools that are already open for in-person learning are NOT being made to close down.

Maldonado says in an email moments ago that "waivers for re-opening are not an option for junior high school and high schools." So I guess Santa Barbara Middle School, and other private schools, are going to shut down. The SBMS website still boasts, however, "SBMS is excited to announce that we have opened school for in-person learning with all of our students, 5 days a week. "

VOR, I know facts are problematic but masks do work and this has been demonstrated all over the world. In the US the highest infection rate correlates with the lowest mask usage. Carnegie Mellon: https://delphi.cmu.edu/blog/2020/10/12/new-and-improved-covid-symptom-survey-tracks-testing-and-mask-wearing/

@5:33 nope. While masks are helpful in certain situations, if they were so critical in controlling the spread we would have beat this already.

Anyone who opines that mask usage isn't critical to controlling the spread and severity of the pandemic is not capable of rational thought.

Sac, I hate to break it do you, but what this virus has shown us over the past 8 months is that it is going to spread no matter how many of us wear masks, wash hands, avoid family, etc. You're being conditioned to blame someone else for something we can't control. If cases go down, "mask are working"! If cases go up, "people aren't wearing masks" (but then what happened to the flu this year?). That is NOT science.

Loose - I think they really made it impossible by conditioning the start of in-person school on us being in the orange tier after the holidays. If we're in the red tier and they still refuse to start, I think it may be time to consider legal actions to compel the start of school, but that's another thread. The Governor, based on advice from scientists and disease specialists, allowed for in-person school, yet our districts refused to open. It's been 7 months of zoom lessons since March and our kids are suffering. We need to ALL wear masks, social distance, avoid even family gatherings over the holidays, basically do our parts to get our numbers back down. If then, once we have and they still refuse, we need to do something more. We can't allow our kids to fall this far behind the private and small-district schools. If we do our job of being safe and getting our numbers down, the district officials need to do their job!

Some kids are doing great with zoom, many are not.

I don't think private schools will have to close. With the current rules, once you are open, you can stay open in the purple tier with additional safeguards in place - this only changes if school infection rates get too high (I'd have to look up the actual numbers).

Once we were in red, in October, we were allowed to open.

They have no intention of re-starting school in January. It's all a farce. We're being strung along...

GT - take a look at the recent email from GUSD. If the county goes back to purple, which it did, they are going to re-evaluate the whole back to school plan.

Generaltree - how is concern about your child's education (or lack thereof) and the inability to keep fit by swimming at a PUBLIC pool a "First World problem?"

@4:53, exactly, the school was closed and therefore not a vector for those added cases. From what I've read nearly all kids get it from adults but nearly all kids don't continue spreading it.

https://santamariatimes.com/news/local/eleven-st-joseph-students-confirmed-for-covid-19-school-to-reopen-tuesday/article_eae16115-787a-5588-b506-e684719ebbb9.html

My kid is getting doing really well with Zoom - partly because i spend time in the evenings helping him like it were home work, but I'd do that during non-Covid times anyway. Does she get bored? Yes. So we go mountain biking, surfing, skateboarding, go on hikes, watch movies, go on picnics and many other things. Take a look around your home and see if there is something you as a parent can do better. Lazy parents are a societal problem with or without covid. Stop acting like everyone in Santa Barbara has your exact same issues.

What part of the world do you live in? Our school is set to open Hybrid in January, and aren't Goleta schools set to go back 5 days a week?

"My kid can't go to school and is having horrible zoom classes and is bored out of her mind. The Y is closed. Can't swim." Sounds like a First World problem.

Thank you for the correction, SACJON. The health authorities deemed it safe for the kids to be back in school, but the teachers (represented by their union) refused to return to work, exacerbating the divide between rich (with kids going to private schools, enjoying superior in-school instruction) and poor/not-so-rich (with kids "going to" public schools, with lamentable Zoom classes).

I stand corrected.

@ 4:13 There have been no cases of spread from schools in SB county, I bet you'll have a tough time finding any case in the US where schools have been a vector (not colleges and even then that spread wasn't from class). This is backed up by the CDC and the WHO, so no, keeping schools closed was not the smart responsible thing (and ignores the numerous health and well being consequences for children when schools are closed).

4:13 - the governor deemed it safe to return to in-person school, so how was that the "responsible thing" to keep them closed?

You mean the smart, responsible thing.

Public schools could have opened but didn't have the will. Safer for their careers to not make a difficult decision. Either do what's best for the kids and open, while pissing off the teachers unions and not getting reelected or, doing what's best for their political careers and screw the children. That is why private schools are open and most public schools are not, private schools aren't controlled by the unions and are free to do what's best for the children.

Loosecannon - from the state site on the different tiers (https://covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy/), looks like restaurants and bars need to close indoor seating and probably a lot of other businesses need to close or modify. Schools, if in session already, can stay open, but schools that have not opened to in-person (SBUSD, GUSD) cannot open until we're back in the red tier for 14 days. BUT..... knowing the districts, they're likely to just do the lazy thing and cancel school outright.

So eloquent. And so evocative of the covfefe crowd.

Scolding the public is ineffective when you're a crass hypocrite. He's got dirty laundry.

3:32 - yeah that was a dumb move and he's getting ripped for it. At least he apologized, which is more than I can say for other politicians these days.

Here's the thing about closing schools...it only pushes the problem out to where there's no centralized control. People have pod learning, backyard group classes, play dates, etc...the only difference is the school has no control over who is with who and what precautions they are taking. Personally, my kids are doing fine...they are keeping up with their work without having to waste time with all the nonsense drama, movement, gardening and yoga that pads their 2 hours of learning into 6 hours on campus. We make sure they have weekly time with their friends and they seem reasonably content with this temporary situation.

How about your kids' development? How do you think they're learning from home?

Schools that already have a waiver can continue to open. Schools already open can remain open. Personally, I'm keeping my kids home as this will only get worse considering that we are in the worst zone in spite of everything our town has done to be responsible.

Only if we are in red again, not if in purple (or at least, high school and junior high won't be allowed to...elementary could get a waiver).

Monkeyboy, you are 100% correct here.