Good morning, Mission, and welcome to Virus Village, your (somewhat regular) Covid-19 data dump.

Hospitalizations, positivity rates and recorded infections continue in steep decline. R Number models show San Francisco in a range from .65 to 1.28, with an average still among the highest in the state.

The rise in political and social ambiguity so far in the 21st century has been driven largely by digital technology, the “war on terror” and politicians like Obama and Trump. The pandemic added a whole new layer and the “post-omicron” surge doesn’t suggest more certain days ahead.

Although some think “it’s over”, the virus may have other ideas. Last year it showed itself more clever than our dysfunctional publich health system, and it may prove so again this year. Here’s an explanation for why omicron is so contagious and here are some possible scenarios for 2022. Instead of taking a victory lap, shouldn’t San Francisco’s Department of Public Health begin preparations now?

In late 2020, a group of right wing libertartian docs put out “The Great Barrington Declaration” calling for no public health interventions to control the disease save for unspecified measures to protect the most vulnerable. The post-omicron call to relax or eliminate public health interventions is no longer confined to the fringe. But now there are at least specific ways proposed to protect the vulnerable. While focusing on expensive drugs in short supply, critical measures such as global vaccination and improved ventilation and filtration of indoor air are not included.

A few billionaires would be able to fund global vaccination but so far none has stood up. Here’s what the global vaccination picture looks like.

The Vaccine is great, but not if people don’t get vaccinated. Vaccination uptake among the elderly, especially in the U.S. has been surprisingly low.

On its own, The Vaccine doesn’t provide lasting protection against infection. Boosters have helped, but for many the boosters have already begun to wane.

Even in heavily masked places like Hong Kong, the virus can rage out of control.

While most commentators focus on protecting the elderly and immunocomprosed, little is said about protecting the low income residents and racial minorities. It’s difficult when Google algorithms don’t approve of health equity advocates discussing “racism“.

What protections will be proposed when the Public Health Emergency lapses which will kick 15 million off of Medicaid?

Or when jails use imprisoned minorities for drug experiments?

Or when the CDC tells you to contact your health care provider right away after testing positive, but you don’t have a “health care provider?”

Scroll down for today’s covid numbers.

As of Feb. 15, DPH reports 782,298 residents have been vaccinated, more than 89 percent of all San Francisco residents have received one dose, and over 83 percent have received two. For residents 5 and older, DPH reports the figures rise above 90 percent and above 86 percent while for those 65 and older over 90 percent have received two doses. SFDPH reports that as of Feb. 15, approximately 466,109 SF residents (65 percent of all residents, 82 percent of residents 65 and older) have received a COVID-19 booster dose.

For information on where to get vaccinated in and around the Mission, visit our Vaccination Page.

On Feb. 12, DPH reports there were 159 covid hospitalizations, or about 18.1 covid hospitalizations per 100,000 residents (based on an 874,000 population). Today, the California Department of Public Health reports 167 covid patients in SF hospitals and 40 ICU patients. Unlike it’s counterparts in New York, Seattle — even Los Angeles — DPH cannot report how many covid patients are vaxxed and how many unvaxxed since September 1. This failure, both simple and spectacular, does not bode well for the future of public health in San Francisco.

The latest report from the federal Department of Health and Human Services shows Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital with 25 covid patients and 6 ICU beds available, while across the Mission, CPMC had 20 covid patients and 2 ICU beds available. Of 225 reported covid patients, 96 were at either SFGH or UCSF, with at least 67 ICU beds available among reporting hospitals (which does not include the Veterans Administration). The California DPH currently reports 91 ICU beds available in San Francisco. Note: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a scathing report for sustained public health crisis failures at HHS. The failures cited include “collecting and analyzing data to inform decisionmaking.”

Omicron revived SF’s standard pandemic pattern, hitting the lower socioeconomic sectors of the City the hardest. Between Dec. 13 and Feb. 11, DPH recorded 4439 new infections among Mission residents or 755 new infections per 10,000 residents. Bayview Hunters Point had the highest number of recorded new infections (4610) with a rate of 1216 new infections per 10,000 residents. Of 38 neighborhoods, 14 had rates above 700 per 10,000 residents, 13 in the east and southeast sectors of the City. Seacliff had the lowest rate with 379 new infections per 10,000 residents and Lakeshore, the only neighborhood in the City with a vaccination rate below 50 percent, had the second-lowest rate at 432 new infections per 10,000 residents.

DPH reports on Feb. 8, the 7-day average of daily new infections recorded in the City was 339 (finally lower than last winter’s peak) or approximately 38.7 new infections per day per 100,000 residents (based on an 874,000 population). According to DPH, the 7-day average infection rate among vaccinated residents was 33.2 per 100,000 “fully vaccinated” residents and  92.5 per 100,000 unvaccinated residents. It is unclear whether “fully vaccinated” includes boosters or the infection rate among those vaccinated with 2 doses.

In January, DPH reports Asians had  25.5 percent of the month’s total, up from 19.7 percent in December; Latinxs had 21.6 percent, up from 18.4 percent, Whites had 20 percent, down from 33.4 percent; Blacks 5.8 percent, up from 4.7 percent, Multi-racials had 1 percent, down from 1.2 percent, Pacific Islanders had 1 percent, the same, and Native Americans had .2 percent of January’s total, down from .3 percent in December.

In January, DPH reports San Francisco’s Latinx residents had a positivity rate of 22.4 percent, up from 10.7 percent in December; Pacific Islanders 22.1 percent, up from 12 percent; Blacks 20.2 percent, up from 9.2 percent; Multi-racials 17.9 percent, up from 9.2 percent; Native American 17.8 percent, up from 10.2 percent; Asians 14 percent, up from 6.6 percent; and White San Franciscans had a January positivity rate of 12 percent, up from 8.4 percent in December.

Six new covid-related deaths recorded in January and seven in February have raised the local covid death toll to 68 since the beginning of the year. Probably most are related to omicron. DPH won’t say how many were vaxxed and how many unvaxxed. According to DPH “COVID-19 deaths are suspected to be associated with COVID-19. This means COVID-19 is listed as a cause of death or significant condition on the death certificate.” Using a phrase like “suspected to be associated with” indicates the difficulty in determining a covid death. The ambiguity is heightened when currently it is unknown whether or not 34.5 percent of the deaths had one or more underlying conditions. As of Feb. 9, DPH continues to report only 21 of the 761 deaths are known to have had no underlying conditions, or comorbidities.

Covid R Estimation has kept its San Francisco R Number estimate at 1.07, and its California R Number at .52. The ensemble lowered its average San Francisco R Number to .83 and raised its average California R Number to .66. Of all models, the SF R Number ranges from .65 to 1.28.

During the course of the pandemic, San Franciscans aged 0-20 had 0 covid-related deaths, or 0 percent of the total; 21-29 3 deaths, or .4 percent; 30-39 12 deaths, or 1.6 percent; 40-49 29 deaths, or 3.8 percent; 50-59 54 deaths or 7.1 percent; 60-69 113 deaths or 14.8 percent; 70-79 141 deaths or 18.5 percent; and those San Franciscans 80 and older suffered 409 deaths or 53.7 percent of all San Franciscan covid-related deaths, even though they had just 2.3 percent of the City’s recorded infections.

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The California Air Resources Board (CARB) Southern California headquarters has been completed in Riverside, Calif. The 403,306-sf is the largest vehicle emissions testing facility in the world and the largest net-zero facility of its kind.

The CARB headquarters exceeds California Title 24 requirements by 30% and lowers energy cost savings by 75%. All of the energy needed is produced onsite, making it resilient to power outages and protecting it from pausing its research operations.

CARB consolidated five existing locations across Southern California into CARB’s headquarters which improves performance and efficiency of operations while also providing a healthy workplace for the organization’s employees. The design team’s focus was not just reaching high-performance targets, but creating a quality environment for CARB’s employees.

The features of the headquarters include a complex program with myriad space types, including a main entrance and lobby, an employee entrance and lounge, a large auditorium, open office, conference room, light-and-heavy-duty vehicular emissions testing wings, specialized chemistry and hydrogen laboratories, and employee amenity spaces such as an expensive breakroom and a gym. The facility is sited on 19 acres to encourage biking, walking, public transit, and use of zero emissions vehicles to reduce transportation impacts.

The facility effectively connects users to the outdoors. The layout and form of the building establishes two principle outdoor spaces: the main courtyard to the east and a more private courtyard to the west. The building is oriented around the courtyards to lend itself to easy circulation, views, daylighting, and self-shading. Coupled with an abundance of low B VOC-emission trees and plantings, comfortable outdoor respite spaces are established for employee enjoyment.

The massing of the office building is consolidated into three stories that extend in three directions parallel to light duty testing, chemistry labs, and toward the conference buildings. This creates a smaller building footprint and shortens horizontal circulation networks, while using vertical connectivity established by a network of bridges and stairs to increase proximity between offices, testing areas, support spaces, and laboratories, resulting in increased flexibility, optimized adjacencies, and greater opportunities for intellectual collisions among employees. A variety of types and scales of meeting spaces, as well as coffee bars and cafés promote interaction and collaboration, especially for staff who circulate between the various departments throughout the day. 
 
The ground floor of the open office atrium features testing control desks where employees conduct and operate the air regulation testing that occurs in the test cells. These inset spaces throughout the office building first floor are open and allow all users to see the AC dynamometers, among other testing equipment, in action.
 
Beyond putting CARB vehicular testing on display, the energy reduction strategies in the office building also largely contribute to the facility’s net-zero energy status. The integration of chilled beams allowed the atrium ceiling to be kept high, making way for the collection of skylights—a passive lighting strategy—that create expansive views of the naturally lit workspace. Paired with task lighting and daylighting harvesting, the office wing, which accounts for 41% of the total program, uses only 15% of the total energy needed to operate the building.

An inside look at the CARB HQ.

Energy reduction strategies include:

Using hybrid coolers in conjunction with an elevated 570°F chilled water temperature reduced estimated energy consumption of the facility by approximately 8%.

• Aircuity and demand control ventilation

Continuous indoor air monitoring maximizes ventilation efficiency and energy reduction.

Air is humidified without using steam or an additional heat source, reducing energy consumption.

The hydronic air cooling system uses less air, reducing energy requirements and overall operating costs.

Skylights increase interior daylighting. Motorized interior shades reduce glare.

Site lighting: high efficiency LED site in parking. Interior lighting: interiors incorporate all LED lighting, task-ambient lighting, daylight harvesting control, dual lighting / HVAC occupancy sensors.

• Electrical vehicle charging

118 EV charging stalls provided on site with the ability to expand to a total of 149 EV parking stalls.

• Fume hood occupancy-based control

Occupancy-based sensors integrated into the chemistry lab fume hoods reduce energy demands.

Exterior louvers integrated into the southeast and west facades reduce solar heating and glare.

Low-e insulated glazing with exterior louvers increase operational energy efficiency.

The facility was completed in August 2021. ZGF worked with Hensel Phelps and Affiliated Engineers on the project.
 

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Johnson Controls Showcases Connected Home Products at NAHB International Builders’ Show | ACHR News

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An updated white paper says that insulation and energy efficiency improvements must be backed with the enforcement of stronger ventilation standards

A white paper from industry body BEAMA is calling for any national focus on building insulation improvements to also include an uplift in ventilation standards to address air quality issues.

BEAMA said its updated white paper called on authorities to take a ‘ventilate when you insulate’ approach when retrofitting buildings. This would help to prevent the possibility of pollutants and contaminants such as viruses being sealed in insulated homes and buildings, the association added.

The document stated that any ventilation work as part of this focus should also ensure systems are installed and commissioned to the highest standards.

The amended white paper is called Better Ventilation, Better Homes, Better Health. It focuses on the need for effective ventilation to address the health and wellbeing impacts of poor indoor air quality and sets out several main recommendations.

These include ensuring higher ventilation standards are introduced in all new build projects as a means to improve occupant health and wellbeing.

BEAMA said it is also calling on authorities to ensure that poor levels of air quality and  the issues of low ventilation rates are treated as a public health emergency that is enshrined across all government policy.  This should be backed by public awareness campaigns, according to the trade body.

The third recommendation of BEAMA’s white paper is to ensure widescale industry compliance with best available standards.
This includes calls to ensure that ventilation systems are installed or commissioned by registered competent engineers or signed off by building control specialists.

Enforcement mechanisms should also be implemented to ensure the HVAC industry is complying with related specifications such as PAS 2035 that focuses on energy efficiency in retrofit properties.

BEAMA has also called for full implementation of new Building Regulations that would require completed ventilation commissioning sheets to be part of documentation provided as part of a project.

All the recommendations are backed by BEAMA as examples of more concrete action that can be taken at an industry and government level to mitigate the risks of poor indoor air quality. It said that the white paper’s calls are also in line with broad commitments in the recently published Heat and Buildings Strategy.

‘Ventilate to insulate’

Colin Timmins, director of the BEAMA Ventilation Group, said that white paper provided guidance on the best steps forward to prevent a substandard quality of ventilation, particularly as net zero pledges attempt to insulate and make buildings more airtight to improve efficiency.

He said, “Our message to policymakers is simple, a ‘ventilate when you Insulate’ approach must be adopted, and poor-quality installations and compliance must be tackled, to ensure indoor air quality and health are safeguarded.

“By adopting and implementing the 4 policy solutions set out in this white paper, the government can achieve this and deliver healthy homes that are fit for the future.”

Keith Ritchie, Chair of the BEAMA Ventilation Group, added that the 2022 revisions of the organisation’s white paper called for immediate action by UK authorities to introduce effective ventilation and improve average indoor air quality in properties.

He said, “While progress on ventilation and indoor air quality has been made over the last 4 years, much more still needs to be done to integrate, regulate and improve ventilation standards.”

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The air quality inside homes may not stack up against air quality inside office buildings, according to a new study.

For the pilot study in Atmosphere, researchers delved into indoor air quality and health outcomes in people working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers measured indoor air quality in both the offices and homes of employees in 2019 and 2020 and evaluated their health outcomes during those periods.

Air pollution indoors is most often linked to building materials and the activities of people living and working in those buildings. These pollutants include volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from carpet and furniture, paints, and other chemicals, as well as fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and mold.

Prolonged exposure to indoor air pollutants is associated with a wide range of poor health outcomes, from headaches and dry eyes to cardiovascular disease and lung cancer. These outcomes have driven significant work into improving office building indoor air quality.

However, the percentage of people working from home has grown dramatically over the past two decades and skyrocketed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning home indoor air quality can be considered a workplace health issue.

Taehyun Roh, assistant professor in the epidemiology and biostatistics department, and Genny Carrillo, associate professor in the environmental and occupational health department at the Texas A&M School of Public Health, and colleagues, analyzed indoor air quality in an office building between May and July of 2019 and then at the employees’ respective homes between June and September 2020.

The researchers used a standard consumer-grade air quality monitor to collect data on air temperature, relative humidity, and concentrations of particulate matter and VOCs. At the same time, the researchers collected data on outdoor air temperature and particulate matter concentration from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Additionally, the researchers had participants complete a survey where they ranked the prevalence of symptoms like dry, itchy, or watery eyes, stuffy nose, and dry or irritated skin on a scale ranging from not experiencing symptoms to having them every day.

The participants all lived in single-family homes with central air conditioning, and none of the people living in any of the households smoked or worked with hazardous materials.

The study found that the fine particulate matter concentrations were significantly higher in the participants’ homes than in their offices, and the home levels were greater than the standard for a healthy work environment.

The researchers also found that VOC concentrations were higher in homes compared to offices; however, the VOC concentrations in both places were well below the limit set by health standards. The majority of employees in the study reported higher frequencies of symptoms while working at home.

The findings of this study point to the importance of indoor air quality for people working from home and the need for measures to improve indoor air quality. This could be as simple as opening windows when outdoor air quality allows it or providing remote workers with air purifiers.

Taking steps to improve indoor air quality in both conventional office buildings and home offices will likely become a growing area of study for public health researchers and employers looking to ensure health, safety, and productivity.

Additional coauthors are from Houston Methodist Hospital and Lancaster University in the United Kingdom.

Source: George Hale for Texas A&M University

Original Study DOI: 10.3390/atmos12121665

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