Love Speaks

Posted on by Thor

An exhibit at the Orange County Regional History Center marked 3 years since the Pulse Massacre which took 49 lives. Three years after the mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub on June 12, 2016, this remembrance exhibition shared artwork from across the nation created in the wake of this senseless act of violence. These diverse works – from paintings to basketry to graphic novels – both pay tribute to those who were taken and also inspire a better tomorrow for those who remain.

Since we are all isolated at home, there is a 3D virtual walk through of the exhibit online should you like to experience it for yourself. Orlando responded to this horrific event with love and compassion while the nation elected Donald Trump who lead the country towards hate and divisiveness.

As of May 9, 2020 Orange County has tested 1% of its population for Covid-19. There are 1339 confirmed cases and 30 dead. Since at least April 20, the Florida Department of Health has blocked the Medical Examiners Commission from releasing their own detailed spreadsheet of the COVID-19 deaths. On Wednesday, the state released the medical examiners’ spreadsheet but redacted the narratives and cause of death entries making the spreadsheets useless.

Before the DOH clamped down, Florida Todayobtained an unredacted version of the spreadsheet from April 15, which recorded the first 601 Florida deaths attributed to COVID-19.
Of the 601 deaths reported on April 15, 62 happened in Central Florida:
  • 5 deaths in Brevard County
  • 1 death in Flagler County
  • 8 deaths in Lake County
  • 4 deaths in Marion County
  • 23 deaths in Orange County
  • 6 deaths in Osceola County
  • 6 deaths in Polk County
  • 1 death in Seminole County
  • 1 death in Sumter County
  • 7 deaths in Volusia County
Though not fully standardized, the data provides grim insight into the early failures of state officials and the medical system to contain and respond to the virus. It tells a story of patients denied testing until their second or third hospital visit, and reveals deadly clusters of infection at nursing homes and cruise ships.
The detective work in the medical examiner reports expose the missteps of the haphazard response to the Covid-19 pandemic well over a month into the crisis. This is what the State of Florida doesn’t want you to see. Moving forward we only see the rosy facts that state government officials want us to see as they open up the state. With government clamping down on the facts it is hard to believe the numbers reported moving forward.

Deflagration

Posted on by Thor

Many are letting their guard down now that Donald Trump wants to open up the economy leaving governors the challenge of figuring out how to do that safely. Yet the virus is not slowing down. The number of people dying every day is in the thousands. Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, warned senators Tuesday May 12, 2020  that states and cities face serious consequences if they open up too quickly, urging states not to reopen until they know they have the capabilities to handle an inevitable uptick in cases once they relax stay-at-home orders.

I am going to share some musings of Dr. Erin Bromage and link to his article should you want to read more. He is a PhD in Microbiology and makes no claims at being an expert in Covid-19, medicine, or preparedness. Though we may soon be reaching the peak of the curve of death that I check every night before I go to sleep, the downward slope of that curve is predicted to be gradual with deaths persisting for months. Assuming that states stayed in lock down, we would lose another 70,000 people over the next 6 weeks as we come off that peak. As states reopen fuel is added to the virus for it to spread.

In many cases people become infected in the home. One person leaves the home and then returns and the sustained contact with family spreads the infection. Some experts estimate that as few as 1000 SARS-CoV2 infectious viral particles needed to cause an infection.

Sine many will be returning to work the goal is to try to guide you away from situations of high risk. Grocery stores, bike rides, and inconsiderate runners who are not wearing masks are not necessarily areas of primary concern. The reason is that if there are viral particles, you are exposed for a brief period of time. A grocery store worker however could have sustained exposure over time.

Bathrooms are high risk exposure areas with a lot of high touch surfaces, door handles, faucets, stall doors. Of course a cough is high risk. A single cough releases about 3,000 droplets and droplets travels at 50 miles per hour. A single sneeze releases about 30,000 droplets, with droplets traveling at up to 200 miles per hour. Most droplets are small and travel great distances (easily across a room).
A single breath releases 50 – 5000 droplets. Though research has not been done a breath might release about 33 viral particles.
 
To become infected you need to be exposed to the virus over time. Some of the biggest outbreaks of the virus have been at meat packing plants, weddings, funerals, and business networking. A study of an asymptomatic person seated with 9 friends in a restaurant showed that 50% of the people at the table became infected along with 75% of the people at a downwind table. A single air conditioning unit recirculated the air in the room. Even 2 people upwind of the asymptomatic person became infected.
 
A case study of a workplace, had one infected employee come into a crowded call center with 216 employees. Over the period of a week, 94 of those people became infected. Primarily the people on one side off the office became infected while only a few were infected on the other side off the office. Working in an enclosed space, sharing the same air for a prolonged period increases your chances of exposure and infection.
A choir rehearsal in Washington state had 60 people in attendance. Members avoided handshakes and hugs and had their own sheet music. A single asymptomatic carrier infected most of the people in attendance. They sang for 2 1/2 hours, inside an enclosed rehearsal hall which was roughly the size of a volleyball court. Singing aerosolizes respiratory droplets extraordinarily well. I have been watching National Theater productions broadcast for free during the pandemic and the close ups on actors singing shows this spray of particles particularly well in the stage spotlighting. Over a period of 4 days, 45 of the 60 choir members developed symptoms, 2 died.
All these infection events were indoors, with people closely-spaced, with lots of talking, singing, or yelling. The main sources for infection are home, workplace, public transport, social gatherings, and restaurants. This accounts for 90% of all transmission events. Of the countries performing contact tracing properly, only a single outbreak has been reported from an outdoor environment. That means the painting I just posted is more fantasy than fact, but hey, its art. I’m just trying to wake up the complacent.
Know the risks, wash your hands, wear a mask to protect yourself and others and stay safe out there.

It Takes One

Posted on by Thor
Covid-19 has made the world a smaller place. If a butterfly flaps its wings in China it could have global effects. Three months ago we were concerned about the threat of the virus spreading from China. While we had our eye on that threat, three million passengers traveled to New York City airports from Europe before the travel ban. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, “We had people in the airports stopping people from China, testing people from China, the federal government did a lot of testing, a lot of screening, people getting off planes, from China,but meanwhile the people from Europe were walking right past them,.” Trump eventually banned travelers from Europe on March 16, 2020 but the measure was too late, citing how 3 million Europeans came through New York’s airports from December to March.
Anyone can mingle in a crowd or get in a plane and bring the virus to any state or any county in the world.  Since the world is so interconnected, a threat of the virus anywhere is a threat everywhere. A second wave of the virus has just broken out in Wuhan China where it began. Back on April 7, 2020 Wuhan had re-opened after being locked down for 76 days. The outbreak appeared to be largely under control, with no new cases or deaths reported. However the new strain of the virus is more virulent than ever. The city is mobilizing to conduct 10 million tests for all  its citizens in the next 10 days to help control the outbreak.
Meanwhile here in American you essentially need to be on your deathbed before you can get tested. White house  staff on the other hand get tested daily and anyone who gets close to the POTUS is tested. The consequences for states and communities that don’t follow reopening guidelines “could be really serious,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Tuesday.
Florida will reopened certain businesses through much of the state on May 4, 2020 except in the counties of Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach, according to Governor Ron DeSantis. The governor was concerned that flights from New York City could spread the virus in the Sunshine State. Starting May 4, restaurants may offer outdoor seating with six-foot space between tables and indoor seating at 25% capacity. Retail can operate at 25% of indoor capacity, and bars, gyms and personal services such as hairdressers will remain closed. Churches remain on “voluntary social distancing,” and movie theaters remain closed. The state’s stay-at-home order ended on April 30, 2020. Orange County Florida lifted it night time curfew.DeSantis defended the decision made by local leaders to reopen the beaches as he awaits recommendations from Reopen Task Force. The reopening of the beaches in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, generated criticism and also generated the Twitter hashtag #FloridaMorons. Naples  beach re-opened but then had to immediately be shut down because of overcrowding. One official noted that cars parked by the beach had many love bugs splattered on their bumpers meaning that people were not local but had driven from far away, perhaps Miami. The speed limit near the beach is 10 miles per hour. Councilman Gary Price said. “It was packed. People were parking everywhere, blocks away.” The councilman said he took photos to show the crowds, mostly packed close together and not social distancing as required. Naples plans to re-open the beach with new restrictions after the abrupt closure. The Florida Keys will not reopen to visitors until at least June.

The City of Winter Park blocked off Park Avenue to car traffic while offering outdoor seating for Mothers day, May 10, 2020. It was marketed as a “weekend opportunity.” Twenty two of more than 400 eligible businesses within city limits offered seating and merchandise indoors and on sidewalks and the street. A reader sent me photos of people not social distancing. Although visitors are merely encouraged to bring and wear masks, workers were required to wear masks when within six feet of anyone. No one in the photos I was shown wore face masks. I did not paint this event but instead the Sidewalk At Festival that happened pre-pandemic.

Covid-19 has shut down the U.S. for two months, but the pandemic is just getting started, says Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Osterholm said only an effective vaccine can slow the virus before a large enough segment of the population becomes infected and develops some level of immunity. A CDC covid-19 Chicago case study showed that 1 person spread the virus to 15 other people in February, 2020 Three of those infected died. 

As of yesterday May 12, 2020, 1,385,834 people in America have been infected by Covid-19 with 81,795 dead. One single spark can create a flash fire that spreads fast.

11 Secret Service Infected

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Anger raged through the White House when President Donald Trump found out that Cdvid-19 had seeded itself among his staff. He was “lava level mad.” Trump has complained to advisers that the numbers of deaths reported is too high. Apparently he will begin to blame hospitals for the high numbers. Despite his wanting to spin the numbers to benefit himself politically, the virus is hitting closer to home.

Trump relies on the Secret Service to keep him safe when he goes to rally’s and any public function. The Secret Service with 7,600 employees, provides personal protection for the president, vice president and their families, along with visiting heads of state. Now 11 Secret Service officers have tested positive for Covid-19.  60 Secret Service are now in self quarantine. It is as if they are taking the viral bullet for the POTUS. The assignment locations of the sick Secret Service agents were not identified.  For his own part, the POTUS refuses to wear a mask.

Katie Miller Vice President Mike Pence‘s press secretary has tested positive for the virus. She was seen an a photo speaking to reporters not wearing a mask. Mike Pence is maintaining distance from the president. If only we all could do that. White House staff work close together making social distancing impossible. Also when the president announced that the CDC was recommends that people wear face masks, he pointed out that it was voluntary and he would not be wearing a mask. His primary concern is opening up the country and getting the middle class and working class back to work. Being photographed wearing a mask he feels would send the wrong message as he sends people into the work force to face possible infection. He considers Americans expendable warriors in the fight to open up  the economy.

Besides Katie Miller, Trumps valet and Ivanka Trump‘s personal assistant contracted the virus. The valet personally has served the president his diet cokes. White house staff is now tested DAILY and any person who gets close to the president is always tested. Katie had been testing negative and then she tested positive. Trump seemed to think this implied that testing is useless but it takes time for a person to become infected. The virus builds up over time inside a person before it can be detected. The virus is easily spread when the person is still asymptomatic.

Dr. Anthony Fauci will begin a modified quarantine since he came in contact with Katie Miller. Dr. Stephen Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However the Vice President whom she serves will not be quarantining himself. Most white house staff are now being asked to wear masks. The POTUS and VP do not.

As the Trump administration urges Americans to return to workplaces and Donald Trump touts a “transition to greatness” (read transition to the after life), the White House is struggling to project business as usual even as Covid-19 cases spread through the halls.

At an outdoor press conference, Trump was asked why the White House staff is able to be tested daily when that is still not available for the American people. He balked at the at how the question was asked, and told the reporter that it’s a catch-22 and the White House would face criticism if senior officials weren’t frequently tested. “You know what, if we didn’t get the test, you’d be up complaining why aren’t you getting tests for the White House?” Trump said. “We can’t win.” Trump followed with, “It is shocking, given the number of people who come in and out of the White House every day, how few positive cases there have been. He added: “I’ve felt no vulnerability whatsoever.”

New York City has stopped the virus in it’s tracks, though several hundred still die every day, by isolating the population. NYC plans to re-open carefully while watching the data. If a recurrence in infections happens the valve will be dialed back.

Trumps rush to open up the rest of the county will result in needless deaths. Many states have not even begun to follow CDC guidelines for a safe recovery. He takes no responsibility leaving all the difficult choices to governors. He is ignoring the science to try and save his political career. What he should be trying to save is the American people. At least 43 states are now partially re-opened while the death toll rises. The CDC issued a comprehensive plan for states to re-open safely but the white house shelved that plan.

When asked by CBS reporter Weijia Jiang “Why he sees Coronavirus testing as a global competition, when more than 80,000 Americans are dead, he had a meltdown saying, “Ask China.” This came across an incredible racist since the reporter came to America when she was two years old from China. He abruptly ended the news conference rather than answer the question. The man is clearly unstable and unhinged. This is our “leader” turning his back on Americans in a time of crisis.

As of yesterday, 80,787 have died in America. The number of daily deaths is NOT slowing. We might be at or near the apex of the mountain but the downward slope will result in as many deaths and the hard climb up. By not social distancing the virus will have new fuel to spread.

Pre-Pandemic: Alive Art Exhibit on Third Thursday

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As I write this, it is the Third Thursday of March 2020. On third Thursday of every month, hundreds of visitors converge in the core of the Downtown Arts District for the 3rd Thursday Gallery Hop. They come to celebrate art and partake in an evening of sights, sounds, food, shopping, and cosmopolitan fun.

Downtown Orlando is very quiet today. I walked around Lake Eola with Pam Schwartz and there were a few others walking around the lake, soaking in the sun. I got nervous about my 6 foot distance every time a runner jogged by. The March Third Thursday event has been canceled due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Florida has passed 400 cases of the virus and 9 have died, to date (3/19/2020). The national Guard is setting up Covid-19 testing facilities outside the Orange County Convention Center. 57 tests have been administered in Orange County. So, we have no idea how many people have the virus in Orange County above and beyond those 57 tests. Again, South Korea has been administering 10,000 tests a day to find and isolate patients to keep the virus from spreading. Here the virus is spreading unchecked.

The June 2019 event was the 2nd annual “Alive” Art Exhibit, which highlighted the creativity of 49 artists honoring PULSE tragedy by creating art inspired by the feelings of healing, faith, and hope. Art making has the ability to move people along their journey of grief and loss into a more balanced place of healing and hope. In the face of tragedy, the creative process can help re-calibrate a mourner’s life. It was a special evening of art, live music, an interactive installation, art print sales and raffles.

I sketched this wall which an artist was using to create a large piece of art. She used pieced of black tape to create the large sweeping strokes that made it seem like large splashes of pain had been thrown at the wall and allowed to drip down to the floor where a puddle had collected.

Live and Let Die

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At a tour of a face mask factory, Donald Trump of course did not wear a face mask although the Honeywell company policy is that all employees must wear a face mask. All the executives who guided Trump on the tour had been tested for Covid-19. An employee of the factory who likely did not have the option to be tested as well, blared the song, Live and Let Die. Trump was oblivious to the irony pointing at the mask like a zombie sycophant. The week prior, Vice President Mike Pence didn’t  wear a face mask at the Mayo Clinic which has a strict policy that anyone in the facility must wear a mask. When asked why he did not wear a mask Pence admitted that he and anyone around him is always tested for Covid-19.

As Trump pushes to send workers back out in the midst of the pandemic, he is secure in the notion that he will remain safe because he is tested often while everyday Americans are not being tested. His new press secretary dismissed the idea of testing for everyone. As she said, “If we tested every single American at this moment, we would have to re-test them an hour later, and an hour later after that, because at any moment you could theoretically contract this virus, so the notion that everyone needs to be tested is simply nonsensical.” So Trump  is tested often as are the people around him while you frankly are shit out of luck.

This week, Trump’s valet and Pence’s Press Secretary tested positive for the virus. The president had a fit that his staff had allowed the virus to get so close to him while he shakes hands with everyone he meets.  The president and Vice president were re-tested and came up negative. Since members of the president’s staff were infected, the entire staff should be quarantining, but the president has decided he is above that mandate. He is traveling the country as usual looking for photo opportunities at things like the Honeywell face mask factory.

Trump has it “all under control.” He will open the economy at any cost and that cost is the deaths of thousands of more Americans. He and his cronies will be isolated and safe while he sends the working class to their deaths. There is no plan to safely open the economy. He wants to live while you die. Trump will cause mass preventable deaths. The only goal of this country should be to beat the virus. His only goal up until now seemed to be to build a wall and he is only able to build a wall of death.

He disbanded the Covid-19 task Force because he lost interest in it, but then decided to keep it since it was so popular. We are on the brink of mass genocide because our president is not able to listen to experts and is only concerned with his ratings. Someone should explain to him that his ratings will drop as people die. As he put it, “The people of our country should think of themselves as warriors.” This coming from a man who dodged the draft. You are expendable as Trump wants to fire up the economy safely from his bunker in the White House.

Other countries like New Zealand, and South Korea, have suppressed their Covid-19 outbreaks acted early, testing aggressively while isolating cases, and tracing their contacts. South Korea had its first case the same day as America. Here over 25,000 new cases are identified each day while there only 10 new cases are found each day. We are living a nightmare fueled by incompetence and indifference. The rich will self isolate to survive while the middle class and poor are cannon fodder for the economy.

Grim Reaper

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Lawyer Daniel Uhlfelder has been going to Florida beaches dressed as the grim reaper. As he said, “I think it is premature that we open our beaches. I think the danger of bringing people here to our area and spreading the virus is going to prolong the recovery we have. It is too soon and not appropriate.”  “The grim reaper represents death. This is a deadly virus. It’s a global pandemic,” he said in a televised news broadcast. By visiting Florida beaches he is shaming the behavior of congregating on the beaches. The experience was not entirely pleasant. Uhlfelder says he was heckled on the beach: people took photos of him, called him a jerk and some other, more unpleasant names too. “We aren’t at the point now where we have enough testing, enough data, enough preparation for what’s going to be coming to our state from all over the world from this pandemic,” the lawyer told CNN.

Most people have reacted positively to the stunt and Uhlfelder says he is happy that his dry sense of humor has cut through in landscape when some of the loudest voices have been anti-shutdown protesters carrying guns. He just hopes his protest empowers others to do the same

As a child visiting the beach I used to love digging in the sand and even loved getting buried up to my neck in sand. This love of digging in the sand suddenly reminded me of mass graves being dug in Brazil. Graves diggers are struggling to keep up with the demand to bury bodies while Brazil’s leader Jair Bolsonaro claimed the virus is a “little flu,” much like our own President. At first graves were dug individually. Caskets would arrive every 5 minutes with the caskets lowered in by ropes. Five minutes later another family would enter the area to bury their loved one.

These individual burials had to be changed into on large trench dug by back hoes where the caskets would be stacked and then covered as families stood around the edge of the large trench. This has become “the only option” because it is “humanly impossible” to dig the required number of graves, says Manue Viana, who runs a funeral company and is president of the Syndicate of Funeral Businesses in Amazonas. According to Viana, the city’s daily average of deaths has risen from 30 to more than 100. The mayor’s office confirmed to NPR that there have been 340 burials just in the past three days.

Cemeteries and hospitals have been overwhelmed by a surge in the number of deaths, most of which are not registered in official Covid-19 statistics because of a lack of testing and bureaucratic delays. A Brazilian funeral director said simply, “We are living through a nightmare.”

With states in America being encouraged to open up by President Trump, a new study said that Covid-19 deaths in the United States will rise to more than 3,000 a day by June 1, 2020, with new confirmed cases surging to about 200,000 daily. Trump has called Americans warriors as he sends them out to face the grim reaper.

Return to Slaughter

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During the Covid-19 pandemic meat packing plants became hot beds for the spread of the virus. These outbreaks affected dozens of plants, leading to closures of some factories and disruption of others, and posed a significant threat to the meat supply in the United States. As of May 1, nearly 5,000 packing plant workers in 115 facilities, in 19 states had fallen ill, and 20 had died. Meat packing plants are notoriously known for having poor working conditions with everyone working close together on the disassembly line cutting meat.

Smithfield Foods in Sioux Falls, South Dakota had an outbreak that had 600 employees who tested positive for the virus. On April 12, 2020 Smithfield Food closed its plants to stop the rampant spread of the virus. Hundreds of federal meat inspectors have also been exposed to Covid-19, as the virus outbreak spread to thousands of workers at processing plants across the country.

On April 28, 2020 President Donald Trump, who loves MacDonald Hamburgers, used the Defense Production Act to insist meatpacking plants to remain open. The order requiring plants to remain open will threaten the health of workers returning to work after the plants closed last week because of the Covid-19 outbreak. The executive order named such plants “critical infrastructure,” but did not include a specific order for them to remain open. Trump’s order also seeks to shield meat companies from legal liability if they are sued by employees who contract COVID-19 while on the job. What s needed is a robust, continuous testing infrastructure for workers and their families, but that has not been put in place. It has been reported that some employers have failed to provide face masks and are not consistently offering personal protective equipment (PPE) to non-management employees. What’s more, many slaughterhouse employees are not guaranteed sick pay for COVID-19-related illness or premium pay for working extra hours in hazardous conditions.

Trump’s production act is considered by some to be a paper-thin proclamation with limited legal effect. At least seven Covid-19 affected meatpacking plants have shut their doors since the April 28th executive order. That’s in line with the average of eight weekly plant closures in the month leading up to the order.

What happens to the animals now that meatpacking plants close?  The hard fact is that they will not live an idyllic life in open fields. The industrial scale farms have no place to send their cows, pigs and chickens so their facilities are becoming overcrowded by the glut of animals. Farmers are choosing to either starve the animals or kill them on mass. Millions of animals are being slaughtered and left to decompose. It is an orgy of waste.

Daybreak Foods used carbon dioxide to kill 61,000 egg laying hens in Minnesota. Others have covered flocks in foam which suffocates them. Another method has been to shut off ventilation and allow the animals to died from the heat build up. Pigs are being killed by gun shots, electrocution and blunt force trauma also known as “thumping” where baby pigs are slammed head first into the ground. By a conservative estimate 2 million animals have been killed.

This then creates another problem. What can be done with all the decomposing carcasses? Rendering plants can turn some animal mass into dog food or fertilizer but these plants are also closing down or working at a limited capacity due to the virus. Disposal in land fills requires leak proof trailers with absorbent liners. Burial requires adherence to state and federal water protection regulations. Open pit burning has health costs due to dangerous particulate matter. These kinds of ultimate solutions have not been used since World War II. This is a nightmare of a situation where life of any kind is considered expendable in the rush to open the economy.

Despite growing evidence that the pandemic is still raging, President Trump and other administration officials said on Tuesday May 5, 2020, that they had made so much progress in bringing it under control that they planned to wind down the Coronavirus Task Force in the coming weeks and focus the White House on restarting the economy.

How much is a life worth?

At the Feet of Lincoln

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Donald Trump spoke with several Fox News hosts inside the Lincoln Memorial about the Covid-19 pandemic. The White House had Interior Secretary David Bernhardt relax the rules to allow the interview inside the memorial. The original plan was to have the interview on the steps outside the memorial but Donald wanted to be at the feet of the giant inside. As he said, “I don’t think it’s ever been done, what we’re doing tonight, here, and I think it’s great for the American people to see, this is a great work of art, aside from the fact that that was a great man, this is a great work of art.” It would seem that for Trump, the appearance of things is more important than any facts. He is ever the reality show star. However this setting made it clear that this is a tiny man making desperate attempts to seem presidential.

He clearly staged this interview with this air-headed thought in mind, “They always said Lincoln — nobody got treated worse than Lincoln. I believe I am treated worse.” He went on to blame the media, China, Obama, Biden, and State Governors for his short comings. He praised protestors who are spreading the virus.

Trump said, “Look, we’re going to lose anywhere from 75,000, 80,000 to 100,000 people.” He put on his doctors cap to explain, “It — it infects — if you have any problem, heart, diabetes, even a little weak heart, a little diabetes, then, look, this thing is vicious, and it — it can take you out. And it can take you out very strongly.”

Jared Kushner said in an interview that the government rose to the challenge and that this is a great success story. Trump tried to follow that line of reasoning by saying, “That’s one of the — if you call losing 80,000 or 90,000 people successful, but it’s one of the reasons that we’re not at that high end of the plane, as opposed to the low end of the plane.” He pointed out, “We we’re winning bigger than we’ve ever won before.” I guess it is true, in that America has the highest death toll of any country in the world. Maybe that is Trumps idea of winning.

So much of this human suffering could have been mitigated had the president taken the virus seriously. Sadly any time I write down the number of deaths in America it is instantly outdated. To date 72,002 people have died from this virus. Funeral directors can not keep up with the number of bodies. They are stored on ice in rental trucks or they are stored in cardboard boxes marked “Handle with care” each propped up on two chairs and strapped onto a wooden palette with a zip tie. The head is noted much like any “This side up” that you might see on a box. A decorative Greek wreath is also at the head of each box.  each Loved ones are unable to say good by in the hospital. With this virus, you die alone.

Families suddenly out of work, are unable to afford the cost of the funerals. People have to resort to GoFundMe pages to try and raise enough to bury their loved ones. The federal government could pay for burials for those who have died. After past tragedies like hurricanes, the government has stepped in to handle burial costs. However Donald Trump refuses to release federal funds for those who have fallen. In past tragedies the government payed out $2,700 for each families funeral expenses. Where the government to pay families that amount it would cost about 195 million dollars. The administration dolled out 500 billion for big business, tens of billions for the airline industry, tens of billions for a luxury hotel in Atlanta. Helping to bury the dead is a basic core measure of human dignity. For what is supposed to be the greatest country in the world, it is the least we can do. Trump will not do it. He does not need congress to make this happen, he just needs to authorize FEMA to release the money.

Instead the president is rage tweeting in the middle of the night. He thinks he and his administration has done a great job. He feels “Our deaths per million are really very strong.” What is happening in America is a nightmare. While many grieve, the president wants to reopen the country with not enough testing to find out who has the virus. As many states began to reopen their economies a new internal report from the Trump administration predicts that will come at a cost: There could be 200,000 new Covid-19 cases and 3,000 deaths EVERY day by the end of May. This study reflects “changes in mobility and social distancing policies.”

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
― Abraham Lincoln

Carnival Cruise to Set Sail August 1?

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Carnival Cruise is making preparations to set sail again starting as early as August 1, 2020. Prior to the pandemic, an estimated 30 million passengers were transported on 272 cruise ships worldwide each year. Cruise ships are often settings for outbreaks of infectious diseases because of their closed environment and contact between travelers from many countries.

More than 800 cases of laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 cases occurred during outbreaks on three cruise ship voyages, and cases linked to several additional cruises have been reported across the United States. Transmission occurred across multiple voyages from ship to ship by crew members; both crew members and passengers were affected; 10 deaths associated with cruise ships have been reported to date. As of 2 May 2020, over 40 cruise ships have had confirmed positive cases of Codid-19 on board, and one cruise ship remains at sea with passengers on board: Artania, with 8 passengers who are scheduled to disembark at Bremerhaven, Germany, around May 31, 2020.

During February 7-23, 2020, the largest cluster of Covid-19 cases outside mainland China occurred on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, ( 712 confirmed cases and 14 dead) which was quarantined in the port of Yokohama, Japan.  On March 6, 2020, cases of the virus were identified in persons on the Grand Princess cruise ship off the coast of California, (122 confirmed case and 7 dead.)  The Grand Princess was subsequently quarantined. By March 17, 2020, the virus had has spread on at least 25 additional cruise ship voyages.

On February 21, 2020, CDC recommended avoiding travel on cruise ships in Southeast Asia; on March 8, 202220, this recommendation was broadened to include deferring all cruise ship travel worldwide for those with underlying health conditions and for persons aged 65 years or older. On March 13, 2020, the Cruise Lines International Association announced a 30-day voluntary suspension of cruise operations in the United States. CDC issued a level 3 travel warning on March 17, 2020, recommending that all cruise travel be deferred worldwide. The “no sail” order is in effect until the Secretary of Health and Human Services declares that COVID-19 no longer constitutes a public health emergency, the CDC Director rescinds or modifies the order based on specific public health or other considerations, or 100 days have passed from April 15, the date the order was extended, meaning July 24, 2020.

It would seem that cruise ships are floating coffins. Carnival Cruise lines plans to resume cruised out of the port of Miami starting in August 1, 2020 with a total of 8 ships. The following ships will set sail, Carnival Dream, Freedom, Vista, Horizon, Magic, Sensation, Breeze and Elation. More appropriate ship names might include, Nightmare, Imprisonment, Dark Sky, Blindness, Curse, Sea Sickness, Stagnant Air, and Depression. I would be curious to sketch on the Carnival Nightmare.
In the future, passengers entering a cruise ship would have their temperature checked with a heat sensor. Boarding passes would be timed to avoid lines entering the ship. With food service there would be sanitation stations and staff serving the food rather than having guests touching the same utensils to serve themselves. The plan would also be to have fewer people on the ship. Passengers would only be permitted to book balcony rooms which would allow them to get fresh air in the case of yet another outbreak. They may only book every second cabin as sell. If there are only about 40% of passengers on board then the whole crew would not be needed as well. Each crew member would have their own cabin rather than being with a roommate. There is no guarantee that the cruise industry will incorporate all these possible changes.

On Friday, May 1, 2020, the US Congress announced an investigation of Carnival Cruise Line’s parent company, Carnival Corporation, over why it did not act sooner to protect passengers and staff. Dozens of people have died and more than 1,500 confirmed Covid-19 infections have been recorded in connection with Carnival’s ships, which saw major outbreaks on the Diamond Princess, the Zaandam (11 confirmed cases, 4 dead) and the Ruby Princess (852 confirmed cases, 21 dead).

At least 17 cruise ship workers are confirmed to have died from suspected Covid-19, on cruise ships, and dozens more have had to be evacuated from ships and taken to hospital. Around the world, more than 100,000 crew workers are still trapped on cruise ships, at least 50 of which have Covid-19 infections, a Guardian investigation has found. They are shut out of ports and banned from air travel that would allow them to return to their homes. At least one cruise line has stopped paying some workers who are trapped onboard. Many nations, including the US, have balked at providing even basic emergency services for these stranded crew members. The CDC is also acting as a roadblock to the Crews safe return home. Though crew have been isolated for more than 30 days, they can not break quarantine. Should a crew member get off the ship, the captain could face jail time.

Though sources vary, there were about 2871 confirmed cases of Covid-19 on cruise ships  with 72 dead.