THE BUZZ: Welcome to day 869 of the coronavirus pandemic. We've come a long way since March 4, 2020, when Gov. Gavin Newsom first declared a state of emergency in response to a strange new virus that was tearing its way across the globe. Since then, nearly a quarter of state residents have reported infections and more than 90,000 have died. Masks went on, then came off, then went back on again, and came off once more. Vaccines offered a mental and physical reprieve, for a time, but the ever-evolving virus has given way to a new reality wherein Californians have learned to live with the threat of infection indefinitely. It's not a surprise, then, that the latest spike in cases has been met with little reaction from the general public. Fueled by the highly-infectious BA.5 variant, the state's positivity rate has been steadily ticking up for weeks, and as of Tuesday had jumped to 16.1 percent, nearly as high as it was in the winter of 2020. Even then, that figure could be an undercount — with the proliferation of at-home tests, some experts estimate the actual case numbers could be as much as eight times higher than what's being reported. Hospitalizations of people with Covid, similarly, are on the rise (up nearly 31 percent from two weeks ago), but thanks to the vaccines and treatments, infectious disease experts say people are less likely to fall seriously ill compared to past waves . In Los Angeles County, where community spread is high, officials are prepared to reinstate a mask mandate on July 29 if transmission doesn't decline, but other areas of the state are unlikely to take the same path. Bay Area counties, for example, recently said they don't have any plans to reinstate mask mandates . Far from sounding alarm bells, state officials have been relatively quiet as cases continue to rise. The response in many ways tracks with the administration's SMARTER Plan, which debuted in February and focused less on implementing the kind of statewide restrictions that governed Californians' daily lives for much and the pandemic, and more on stockpiling masks, vaccines, and keeping hospitals and schools open. But there's plenty of reason to believe voters are simply tired of, or at best apathetic toward, Covid restrictions. The pandemic was low on the list of voter concerns in a poll taken by Berkeley IGS in April. Nevertheless, we can expect Covid to reemerge as a hot topic in a few weeks when lawmakers return to Sacramento for the final weeks of session, where they're expected to vote on a number of pandemic-related bills. Top of mind, and perhaps most controversial, is a measure by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) that would allow minors 15 and older to get FDA-approved vaccines without parental consent. The legislation, Senate Bill 866, originally set the age at 12, mirroring an existing law that allows minors to get certain vaccines for sexually transmitted diseases without parental permission. Wiener raised the age in May after feedback from lawmakers. Other Covid-related bills that could see a vote next month: AB 1797 by Assemblymember Akilah Weber (D-San Diego) which would make changes to the state's immunization registry; AB 2098 by Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Cupertino), which would prohibit physicians from spreading vaccine misinformation; and SB 1479 by Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) requiring schools to set up Covid testing protocols. BUENOS DÍAS, good Thursday morning. Should California campaigns be allowed to accept cryptocurrency donations? The Fair Political Practices Commission will vote today today whether to authorize the practice, making California one of the dozen or so states to explicitly do so. Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit us up: jwhite@politico.com and lkorte@politico.com or follow us on Twitter @JeremyBWhite and @Lara_Korte . QUOTE OF THE DAY: "The first duty of every public university is to the people — especially students. UCLA must clearly explain to the public how this deal will improve the experience for all its student-athletes, will honor its century-old partnership with UC Berkeley, and will preserve the histories, rivalries, and traditions that enrich our communities." Newsom in a statement demanding UCLA publicly explain its decision to leave the Pac-12. TWEET OF THE DAY: Republican consultant @MattRexroad : "Who wins from a Newsom v. DeSantis food fight? Newsom and DeSantis." WHERE'S GAVIN? Nothing official announced. | 
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