Someone Died In My Bed!

Posted on by Thor

Roughly 1800 kids were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the US last week, a 500% increase in the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations for children since early July, according to data from the CDC. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said “If your child needs an ICU bed, or more likely if they have COVID and need an ICU bed, we don’t have one.” He said “Your child will wait for another child to die before getting one.”

Emerging data from a large study in Canada suggest that children who test positive for COVID-19 during the Delta wave may be more than twice as likely to be hospitalized as they were when previous versions of the virus were dominating transmission. The new data support what many pediatric infectious disease experts say they’ve been seeing—younger kids with more serious symptoms.

Children under 12 still have no access to a vaccine, so they are facing increased exposure to a germ that’s become more dangerous with little protection, especially in schools where masks as a faint suggestion rather than a much needed mandate. Florida Children’s Hospitals are overwhelmed. Florida education officials who are trying to protect the children with mask mandates are having their jobs threatened by Florida Governor Ron DeathSantis. Florida’s Orange County Public Schools said it would require students to wear masks, except pupils whose parents opt them out with a signed note. Employees, visitors, volunteers and parents also will be required to wear masks, the district said. The CDC recommends that everyone – students, teachers, staff and visitors – wear masks in schools.

8,400 Tampa Florida area students and faculty are in quarantine after being exposed to the virus after just one week of school. An emergency school board meeting will be held the evening of August 18, 2021 to discuss the spread of the virus and take up the issue of mandatory mask wearing in schools. If approved, that could put the school district directly at odds with DeathSantis. Schools in Atlanta, Georgia reported over 4,000 COVID cases in just two weeks. Ten districts in that metro area have already suspended in-person learning.

Over 50 children are being hospitalized with COVID every single day in Florida. The state now leads the U.S. in new COVID-19 infections and has the highest rate of hospitalizations among children in the nation.

Infectious Children

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A study has found that younger children are more likely to spread COVID-19 in a family setting compared with older children. Specifically, children 3 or younger were more likely to spread the virus to household members compared with those aged 14 to 17.

The study, published in JAMA, analyzed public health data from Ontario, Canada, to identify COVID clusters in which a child was the primary case within households.

Earlier in the pandemic, some scientists suggested the risk of transmission declined with younger children. But this assumption was likely skewed by the fact that lockdowns and social distancing meant young children had very few social encounters.

The study involved 6,280 households with COVID-19 index patients 17 years and younger from Jun 1 to Dec 31, 2020, prior to the emergence of the Delta Variant, so more research is needed to understand transmission risk in the context of the variant. The study also took place prior to vaccines being available, meaning all household members were unvaccinated.

Babies and toddlers are probably more likely to spread disease to parents and caregivers because they are cared for directly, in close contact. “The 0-to-3-year-old child is held differently, is cuddled,” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The risk of death and severe illness is still much lower in younger children compared with older children and adults. The best line of defense against further spread of the virus is for the parents of the child to both be vaccinated.

This study reinforces the importance of existing mitigation strategies at childcare facilities and schools, including distancing, good ventilation, frequent cleaning and masking whenever possible. t also reinforces the importance of all eligible people over 12, especially those around young children, getting vaccinated.

Anti-Vaccine Archbishop

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Former Saint Louis, Missouri Archbishop Raymond L. Burke was a vaccine skeptic. He was placed on a ventilator days after being diagnosed with COVID-19. A message from his team asked that supporters “pray the Rosary for him.” He tested positive on August 11, 2021.

Whether Burke has been vaccinated is unknown, but he spoke out against vaccine mandates at the May 2020 Rome Life Forum, saying “vaccination itself cannot be imposed, in a totalitarian manner, on citizens.” He’s also quoted theories that the vaccine contains “microchips” used to control citizens. In the same address, he reportedly argued that the church had not insisted enough on continuing in-person services during the coronavirus pandemic.

He said that the virus is being used by certain forces to bring about a “Great Reset” in which they will bring about a “new normal” through imposition of complete control over people through manipulation and fear. Burke called for prayer and penance to combat the Great Reset.

He also added, “It must be clear that it is never morally justified to develop a vaccine through the use of the cell lines of aborted fetuses.” COVID-19 vaccines do not contain any aborted fetal cells. However, Pfizer and Moderna did perform confirmation tests (to ensure the vaccines work) using fetal cell lines. Fetal cell lines are not the same as fetal tissue. Fetal cell lines are cells that re grown in a laboratory. They descend from cells taken from elective abortions in the 1970s and 1980s. Current fetal cell lines are thousands of generations removed from the original fetal tissue. They do not contain any tissue from a fetus.

For those curious about the visual reference in my painting, the sword is a reference to the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket. Thomas was a long time friend of King Henry II who appointed Thomas as the Archbishop. Thomas then turned on the king when ecclesiastical interests ran contrary to royal interests. Henry II grew so exasperated by Thomas Becket that one day, in public, he asked of no one in particular, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?” The question was meant to be rhetorical, but four of his knights took the question literally. They traveled to Canterbury and they murdered Thomas Becket in the cathedral, on December 29, 1170.

Duck Tape Fixes Anything

Posted on by Thor

Today, August 15, 2021 the risk assessment map of the United States turned completely blood red. I haven’t seen that since January 10, 2021. We are clearly now in the worst of the Delta Wave.

Through the worst of the pandemic airlines continue to fly passengers all across the country and around the world where they can spared the virus. Only California, Kansas and Hawaii have some restrictions. Most airlines require all passengers over the age of two to wear a face mask.

One in five flight attendants report having witnessed physical incidents involving passengers this year, sometimes violent, often over face mask rules.

One entitled, apparently drunk prick groped several female flight attendants. He then was seen on video throwing punches at a third attendant while cursing at the op of his lungs. That attendant had to duck tape the passenger to his seat. The prick kept screaming that his parents were worth over 2 million dollars and everyone would be sorry. Finally the attendant had to duck tape the passengers mouth closed although the tape did not hold.

Finally duck tape has been used in the fight against COVID-19. There have been over 3,700 incidents of unruly passengers.  Much of the contentious violence is caused by the the last president who made wearing masks a political issue. Conservatives feel that not wearing a mask makes them patriotic rather that proving they are a selfish asshole. Disputes over masks account for over 75% of unruly passenger complaints. Personally I would feel better knowing every flight attendant had a roll of duck tape and zip ties hanging from their belt on every flight. Rather than demonstrating how to use a seat belt they could demonstrate how to restrain with the tape.

27 Test Positive on Carnival Cruise Ship

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The Carnival Vista departed from Galveston, Texas headed to Belize. 26 crew members and one passenger tested positive for COVID-19.

All 27 were vaccinated, had mild or no symptoms, and were in isolation, according a statement from the Belize Tourism Board. The tourism board said 99.98% of the ship’s crew was vaccinated, as well as 96.5% of its passengers. So who were the 3.5 passengers who were not vaccinated?

Carnival announced last week that there were positive cases on board, but the cruise line did not not give specific numbers. Cruise ships are often settings for disease outbreaks because of their closed environment and close contact between travelers from many countries, according to the CDC.

At the beginning of the pandemic the Diamond Princess was quarantined off Japan. Of the 3711 people onboard, around 700 were eventually infected with the virus (567 out of 2,666 passengers and 145 out of 1,045 crew) and 9 people, all of them passengers, died. Quarantine on a cruise ship is dangerous, because the cruise ship does not use HEPA filters which can effectively screen 99 percent of the particles. Airborne transmission likely accounted for over 50% of disease transmission on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which includes inhalation of aerosols during close contact as well as longer range. The CDC issued an advisory to avoid traveling on Cruise ships. The cruising industry came to a screeching halt in mid March of 2020.

The CDC’s no-sail order to expired on October 31, 2020. Cruise lines, including Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Carnival began November 2020 by announcing they would cancel North American sailings through December 31, 2020. With the advent of the vaccines, there was hope that 2021 would see the return of care free cruising. No one was prepared for the Delta variant. The cruising industry has to choose between passenger safety or profit and of course profit always wins.

You Chose This

Posted on by Thor

Disney said on August 2, 2021 that its parks, experiences and products division returned to profitability for the first time since the pandemic began.

The highly contagious Delta variant has caused a resurgence in the COVID-19 virus in recent weeks, particularly in Central Florida where Disney World is located. On July 28, 2021, Orange County mayor Jerry Demings proclaimed a sate of emergency.

Disney World  eased restrictions in April 2021, which led to a boost in attendance. While guest capacity hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels, it improved as mask mandates were loosened during the quarter.

Disney World plans to continue to re-open and increase capacity despite the threat of the Delta variant. Large convention groups are canceling, however people still flock to the parks.

The company reintroduced mask requirements for all indoor spaces, including attractions and merchandise locations, and on all forms of Disney transportation. Guests can still remain mask-free in outdoor areas, or, if indoors, while actively eating or drinking at a restaurant or other designated dining locations. Social distancing markers have not being returned and fireworks displays continue which attract dense crowds.

Revenue at Disney’s parks, experiences and products segment jumped 307.6% to $4.3 billion, up from $1.06 billion during the same period last year. The great thing for the company is that if guests contract the virus in their theme park, the symptoms do not show for 14 days which means the guest likely brought the virus home to share with friends and family. The Delta variant however has a shorter incubation period, 3 to 4 days, instead of 5 to 6 days and it has higher viral loads. Meaning that people are more infections faster and can spread the virus among other guests at the parks. It is impossible to prove the virus was picked up in the park. It just as well could have been contracted on a plane or restaurant. Deniability equals profitability.

Disney’s Chief Executive Officer Bob Chapek said, “In terms of the Delta variant, we see strong demand for our parks continuing.“ Disney World will be celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, so it is importent to the company to keep increasing the capacity in the park. Should some guests die that is a small price to pay for growing profits.

Back to School

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School children all across Florida have returned to school. Florida Governor Ron DeathSantis issued an royal decree saying parents can elect to not mask their children if they do not want them masked. 815 physicians signed an open letter asking him to repeal his anti-mask laws. Florida currently leads the nation in the number of children hospitalized for COVID-19. A child younger than 5 has died of COVID-19 at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare.

Three Broward County teachers and a teachers aid died on August 12, 2021 all in the span of 24 hours from COVID-19. The Broward County school board voted 8 to 1 to mandate that students must wear masks in school. DeathSantis later said the Florida Board of Education could withhold the paychecks of school board members and superintendents who enforce mask mandates. He later had to back down from his threat to withhold school officials’ salaries if they resist his anti-mask rule since school board officials are not on the state payroll. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended all K-12 students wear masks for in-person learning. All across the state, only 4% of students tried to find excuses not to mask up.

Hospitals in Central Florida are full and as of August 9, 2021 nearly 14,000 people were hospitalized with COVID in the state, according to federal data. 440 students in Palm Beach County have been asked to quarantine just two days into the school year, after 51 students and faculty had confirmed cases on COVID-19. Mike Burke, Palm Beach County superintendent of schools blamed the opt-out rule as the reason for the spike in cases, calling on DeathSantis to make changes to protect students from infection.

In recent weeks there has been a surge in COVID hospitalizations among children in the United States. Nearly 94,000 new child COVID-19 cases were reported last week which is a substantial increase in cases. In Florida, the state with the highest number of confirmed pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations in the country, 179 children are receiving care, according to federal data. 29 kids are hospitalized in the Orlando area including 6 in the ICU. While severe illness due to COVID-19 remains “uncommon” among children, experts say the increased trend is concerning.

On August 12, 2021 Florida shattered another record with 24,869 cases of COVID-19 with 357 more deaths.

Biden Sends 200 Ventilators to Florida

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Florida is facing a major surge of COVID-19 cases because of the DeSantis Variant. Hospitals in Central Florida are completely full and non-COVID related cases are being turned away. In Florida,  more than 10,000 people are hospitalized.

“The Strategic National Stockpile deployed 200 ventilators, 100 high-flow nasal cannula kits and related ancillary supplies to Florida earlier this week,” the spokesperson for U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) wrote in an email.

Asked about the shipment on July 10, 2021, Florida Governor Ron DeathSantis said, Ummm duh whaaaa? He has banned local mask and vaccine mandates in Florida amid the surge in recent weeks in COVID-19 cases in the state. He is also making sure children are not mandated to wear masks when they return to school. School boards are having to countermand his orders to try and keep children safe. DeathSantis is threatening school officials who require masks by withholding their pay. The Biden administration is looking into ways to possibly compensate any officials who lose pay if DeathSantis follows through on his threat.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on August 11, 2021, “As a policy, we don’t send ventilators to states without their interest in receiving the ventilators. I think the most important question here is why would you oppose receiving the ventilators when clearly you need those in your state given the percentage of hospitalizations that are occurring?”

Florida on August 6, 2021 reported 134,506 new Covid-19 cases over the past week, more than any other seven-day period during the pandemic. Hospitals are now treating 14,787 coronavirus patients; that number represents a 145 percent increasing over the previous week.

Sturgis Yet Again

Posted on by Thor

I can not believe that I have to report about another 10 day Sturgis, South Dakota super spreader event. This is a clear indicator that I have had to document this pandemic for over a year.

This year over 700,000 bikers are expected to arrive in this small South Dakota town to infect one another and then return too their friends and family all over the country to spread the virus.

In Meade County South Dakota, where Sturgis is, only 37% of the population has received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, leaving plenty of unvaccinated fuel for the Delta variant to burn through. A report by infectious disease experts from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and South Dakota health officials traced 649 Covid-19 cases around the country and at least one death to the 2020 rally. The report said the “true national impact” of the rally on the pandemic is likely underestimated.

Another CDC report linked the rally to a Covid-19 outbreak in Minnesota, where at least 51 residents who attended the event became sick, and another 35 people were infected after coming into contact with a person who went to the rally. Those 35 people were household, social and workplace contacts, it said.

Of those 86 cases, four people were hospitalized, and one died, according to the report. The virus back then could infect 2 to 3 other people. The Delta variant has the advantage that it can spread from one infected person to 5 to 8 other people causing a far greater exponential spread.

Sheriffs are reporting that this year’s rally is more crowded than ever. Sheriff Ron Merwin said August 7, 2021, “There are more people [at the rally] than in the 31 years I’ve been doing this,” the Rapid City Journal , and Sturgis Police Chief Geody VanDewater said calls for law enforcement are “up dramatically” versus prior years. Masks are not mandated at the rally. The Sturgis rally generates 800 million in sales revenue for the local economy and that is more important than any life. So begins another COVID surge in the midwest.

Freedom to Drown

Posted on by Thor

They say it is a pandemic of the unvaccinated. Only when they are gasping for their last breaths do people lament not getting vaccinated when they had the chance.

Doctors and nurses are shocked that they must deal with sick unvaccinated patients who do not believe the virus is real. The vaccine life boat is there but they refuse to get on.

Right wing politics have made simple heath measures like wearing masks a flash point of contention. Ignorance is more contagious than the virus itself.

With the vaccination roll out coming to an absolute crawl, more than 100,000 Americans are refusing to take the vaccine which could vastly reduce the possibility of hospitalization and death from the virus. With most of the world wishing they could get a hold of the vaccine Americana are simply choosing to risk death to “own the liberals.”

As death rates soar, Facebook groups, Instagram accounts and Telegram channels dedicated to downplaying the pandemic attracted thousands of followers. Many Facebook accounts are run by suburban moms, who post memes about children being traumatized by masks. Florida Governor Ron DeathSantis is playing into that fear. Less than half of Floridians are fully vaccinated. The apocalyptic cults continue to flourish, believing they know more that the scientists and media who report what is happening around the world. Their world view seems limited by their anger and fear. Disinformation will keep this virus well fed far into the future.

The 1918 Spanish Flu lasted for three years. We are now into the second year of this pandemic. 675,000 Americans died due to the 1918 Spanish Flu. To date, 617,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. It looks like COVID will likely surpass the 1918 death toll. You might think that science and reason had developed in the last 100 years but the opposites seems to be true. The internet information age seems to have accelerated ignorance and fear. Over 3000 Americans died the week of August 8. 2021. It did not have to get this bad.