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Giants, 49ers A’s Stadiums Might Become Mass Vaccination Centers

By kcubas · January 14, 2021

Bay Area’s MLB, NFL and NHL teams have offered up their stadiums and arenas to potentially become mass vaccination sites

California is expanding its vaccination efforts, and Bay Area teams including the A’s, Giants, 49ers and Sharks have proposed the possibility that their stadiums become mass vaccination centers.

San Francisco Chronicle noted that the A’s and 49ers’ stadiums have large parking lots which could work well to handle a large turnout. The A’s have been in conversations with state and local officials to transform their parking lot at the Coliseum into a drive-through vaccination site.

Also, the 49ers’ team President Al Guido has also offered Levi’s Stadium as a vaccination site in a letter to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. His letter notes, “In collaboration with our partners, Levi’s Stadium offers a facility with the requisite technology to store vaccines, world-class security, and the capability to partner with public health professionals to administer vaccines.”

The Giants, as well, has offered to make its “ballpark facilities available in whatever way is needed” to help with the vaccination efforts. The Sharks joins fellow Bay Area teams in offering up the SAP Center as vaccine site.

Our stadiums would join Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and Petco Park in San Diego which have already been approved for mass vaccination centers and are slated to open as early as next week. The hope is that these sites will help speed up California’s vaccination rate.

Check Out Tahoe’s New Majestic Outdoor NHL Ice Rink

By kcubas · January 14, 2021

NHL finally released a rendering of the new ice rink on the 18th hole at the Edgewood Tahoe Resort golf course in Lake Tahoe.

The League announced the two-game series, NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe, which will feature two regular-season games against the backdrop of the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains.

Although there will be no fans present, the opportunity to play without a crowd led the league to choose a unique setting that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.

The game won’t be played actually on the lake, but on a regulation rink that will be built on the 18th fairway on the shoreline. They’ll even be locker rooms that feel like wooden cabins and a retro scoreboard.

On Saturday, February 20, Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights will face off, and on Sunday, February 21, the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers will take the ice.

Read more on NHL.com.

“Stay-at-Home” Order Likely Extended, But No Official Word Yet

By kcubas · January 8, 2021

The three-week “Stay at Home” order that was triggered for the Bay Area on December 18 after ICU capacity for the region fell below 15% was originally supposed to be revisited starting January 8th, but there has been no official word from the State of California.

A region is supposed to be able to exit the stay at home order when a 4-week projection is above or equal to 15%. To our knowledge, the state has not shared any of these projections, or exact methodology as to how these projections are made.

The city of San Francisco proactively extended their order “indefinitely” on December 31st, but we’re not aware of any other county making any official statement on the original deadline of January 8th.

Number of ICU Beds Currently “Available” in Bay Area
as of 1/6/21 – see data source

  • Bay Area Total – 267 (lowest number since at least March)
  • Alameda – 69
  • Contra Costa – 27
  • Marin – 14
  • Monterey – 33
  • Napa – 3
  • San Francisco – 46
  • San Mateo – 12
  • Santa Clara – 27
  • Santa Cruz – 4
  • Solano – 8
  • Sonoma – 24

Why a Drop in Available ICU Beds Doesn’t Always Mean More Hospitalizations
In general, it’s safe to assume that a drop in available ICU beds correlates with more more ICU beds being occupied, but not always. Please note that maximum number of potential ICU beds on a per region or county basis is not shared by the state of California and that potential ICU bed numbers can change depending on staffing and the ability to convert “normal” beds into ICU beds which is a common practice when overflow is needed. So without the state providing more detailed statistics and data on what it considers an “available” bed to be, in some cases it’s unclear if a drop in the number ICU beds available is the result of more hospitalizations, temporary ICU beds being converted back into regular beds and taken “offline,” or a combination of both.

In addition the Bay Area has 375 potential hospital beds not included in the above numbers that are considered “warm” and ready to be activated quickly in case of an emergency surge (125 in San Francisco in The Presidio and 250 in Richmond at the Craneway Pavilion)

When is a Regional “Stay at Home” Order Supposed to End?
Here’s what the state of California says

Read More