Hell, Hug Em!

Posted on by Thor

Florida Governor Ron DeathSantis suggested that hugging nursing home residents who are vulnerable to COVID-19 if fine so long as you wear PPE. He is notorious for wearing one blue glove during a press conference and not knowing how to put on a mask. He spoke against “fixating” on testing for COVID-19 when developing plans for allowing loved ones to visit vulnerable residents of long-term care facilities.

He said, “Do not only fixate on testing… look, I’m comfortable with the PPE,” DeathSantis said. “Hell, hug ’em, I mean come on. If you have PPE on and you hug and don’t sneeze or do something on them, you’re going to be fine… obviously, if you’re there for 30 minutes doing that and then you do, well then that’s going to be a different situation.” He followed with, “But to just have… just go give a hug, I think you could do that, and I think that would be very meaningful,” he added. “I kind of feel like to stay six feet away, it’s kind of still, you know, providing the reminder that it’s still not normal… so I do think the touch is important.”

Yesterday Florida saw over 16,000 new cases of COVID-19 as testing re-opened after testing sites were shut down due to the hurricane. That is a new record for any state of recorded cases in a single day. To date the state has 550,101 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 8238 deaths.

Despite the surge, DeathSantis hopes to again allow visits to nursing and other care homes, which had been halted in mid-March when the Florida outbreak was much smaller. He supports immediately allowing those who test positive for COVID-19 antibodies to visit loved ones, claiming that a positive antibody test indicates that a person is immune to the virus for “six months.” There is no clear consensus among experts that an antibody test proves a person is immune to the virus. There are over 11,000 cases of COVID-19 in Retirement Communities and over 2900 deaths.

In an interview with CNN‘s Brianna Keilar, Dr. Adrian Burrowes from Orlando said it is reckless and irresponsible for Florida Governor Ron DeathSantis to say it is safe to hug with PPE on during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A hug can communicate that we are safe, that we are loved and that we are not alone. However in the age of COVID-19, the safest thing is to avoid hugs. If you need a hug, take precautions. Wear a mask. Hug outdoors. Try to avoid touching the other person’s body or clothes with your face and your mask. Don’t hug someone who is coughing or has other symptoms. Try not to cry. Tears and runny noses increase the risk for coming into contact with more fluids that contain the virus.

300

Posted on by Thor

300 Brevard County, Florida students of an outdoor graduation ceremony ere told to quarantine for 14 days after an attendee was diagnosed with COVID-19. Each student could invite 2 guests, so overall 900 people could be affected.

Bayside High School in Palm Bay, Florida, held an outdoor graduation ceremony for seniors last Saturday, an event that appeared to mostly adhere to safety guidelines. Students wore masks as did attendees in the bleachers and seats were placed almost 6 feet apart on a football field. When students walked out to the field however they clustered tightly together in a line. After the ceremony the students then clustered together in tight groups to chat which could be another chance for the airborne virus to spread.

The health department didn’t confirm whether the person who tested positive for COVID-19 was a student or adult. About 30 adult school and district staff were present at the event as well. Faculty wearing gloves and masks handed students their diplomas as they walked across the stage. Only speakers removed their masks when they took the podium. Anyone who attended the graduation ceremony was advised by letter from the Florida Department of Health, to self-quarantine and monitor their symptoms for 14 days. On student interviewed mentioned she had invited both her grandparents and her mom and dad. It would seem the two guest limit was just a suggestion.

Florida continues to set new records in COVID-19 cases and deaths as the state passes 450,000 cases. Over 6,300 residents have died, and this week, child COVID-19 hospitalizations rose 23%. Brevard County has a total of 5477 Cases of Covid-19 with 108 deaths. 13 people have died today July30, 2020. I am shocked that Florida school officials thought an in person graduation ceremony was a good idea at the height of the pandemic. Faculty and students around the country are finding creative ways to celebrate virtually. If only that creative spark existed here.

Space X Scrubbed

Posted on by Thor

NASA initiated temperature checks and physical distancing at mission control leading up to the planned launch of the space X rocket, which is the first manned space flight in nine years from American soil. A successful launch requires the contributions from dozens of technicians at mission control.  Workers were separated into different rooms as much as possible and plexiglass was installed between work stations.

Extra precautions were taken with the Crew Dragon’s astronauts. Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. They have been in quarantine since May 13, 2020 to be sure that they do not transport any pathogen or virus into space. As an extra step, both Behnken and Hurley will be tested for Covid-19 twice before they leave for the International Space Station. Anyone interacting with the astronauts before the launch will wear masks and gloves and have their temperature taken. I saw a picture of the astronauts saying good buy to their wives and family. They held their arms up as if in a hug but with a good 10 feet of separation.

Besides protecting the ground crew and astronauts, NASA has a very short list for VIP visitors during the launch. Some members of Congress and of the National Space Council will be in attendance. But they can not bring any staff. Nine years ago over a million people gathered to see the launch but that can not happen during a pandemic. Ivanka Trump wore a face mask to the NASA launch on Thursday a day after her father, Donald Trump, mocked the practice as being “politically correct”.

While NASA took every precaution to keep people safe and encouraged people to stay home to watch the launch on TV, the Brevard County Sheriff, Wayne Ivey had his own ideas. “If NASA is telling people to not come here and watch the launch, that’s on them. I’m telling people what I believe as an American. And so NASA has got their guidelines, and I got mine.” he said.

The CDC has said that traveling bu car, plane or bus increases a persons chance of contracting the virus and spreading it. Crowds gathered on the A. Max Brewer Bridge in Titusville to watch the launch closing it down as they stood shoulder  to shoulder. The photo by Jim Shortt showed very few people wearing face masks.

A recent study from UC Berkeley’s International Computer Science Institute and at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology says that if 80% of Americans wore  masks, then Covid-19 infections wold plummet. The scientists created a computer forecast model called the masksim simulator that allows you to see how an infection spreads under different scenarios. It  is like watching a video game play out as the virus spreads with no one wearing a mask as opposed to 80 % of people wearing a mask. Even home made masks can make a huge difference in controlling the spread of the virus.  Wake up people, wear a mask. Wearing a mask is cool.

For those that want to watch on TV or from home, the launch was rescheduled for today, Saturday May 30, 2020 at 3pm.

100,000 Shoes

Posted on by Thor

I am writing this on Memorial Day. The death toll for Covid-19 is about to surpass 100,000 and Donald Trump was seen golfing on Saturday May 23, and Sunday May 24, at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia in the midst of the pandemic. According to CNN, Trump visited Trump-owned golf courses 92 times between becoming president in January 2017 and January 3, 2018. Trump’s last golf outing was on March 8, 2020 when he visited the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. He wouldn’t dare golf there now, since Palm Beach has been a hot spot for the Covid-19 virus. As of Memorial day there were 16,522 cases of the virus in Miami Dade County with 614 death. By comparison Laudon County Virginia has 1195 cases of Covid-19 and 30 deaths, which is a far safer bet for the president who refuses to wear a face mask.

I began to wonder, how do you visualize 100000 lives lost? 100,000 people with dreams and aspirations. The New York Times listed 1000 obits of people lost to the virus on it’s front page. It is a sobering reminder of loss that the president would rather we did not remember as he rushes to get the economy back up and running at any cost.

If one shoe were added to a pile on a golf course for every American lost, how big would that mountain of shoes become? I remembered seeing a mountain of shoes of victims of the holocaust at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC. In the Holocaust about 11 million lives were lost to man’s inhumanity to man. Today lives are being lost to indifference and incompetence. Besides golfing, Trump also fired off angry and hateful tweets. I have stopped paying attention to those rants.

Researchers at Columbia University this week estimated about 36,000 lives in the United States could have been saved from the Covid-19 had social distancing and other restrictions been put in place earlier in March. The researchers determined that if the measures had begun two weeks earlier, then 82.7% of deaths and 84% of infections — or about 53,990 deaths and 960,937 cases, could have been prevented nationwide. The study has not yet undergone the typical scientific peer review process, and all models are merely estimates, subject to change with new information.

The former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, Rick Bright said, “If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities …Without clear planning and implementation of the steps that I and other experts have outlined, 2020 will be darkest winter in modern history.”

According to CNN, a leading infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm at the University of Minnesota estimates that there could be as many as 800,000 Covid-19 deaths in the United States over the next 18 months. To date only about 3% of the population has been tested for the virus. Meaning the economy is being opened up blindly. Anyone you meet could be asymptomatic and spread the disease.

It amazes me that so many seem to be rushing out to gather in large groups this holiday weekend because Trump said the worst is behind us. As an artist I can not keep up with so many cases of absolute stupidity.

3000 Attend Street Party in Deland Fl

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3000 people gathered in the Spring Hill neighborhood, Deland, Florida for a late night block party. Cars were parked in the grass on either side of the road and the drinking commenced in the street. It appeared to be an impromptu car show. Cars were parked on multiple streets wrapping around the block. The gathering was reported to be a memorial for Kenya Alexander, a DeLand man who was murdered in 2008.

The block party eventually led to a visitor being shot in the foot and a rifle being pointed at a Volusia County Sheriff’s deputy, according to authorities. The violent resistance to police also included another deputy being struck with a bar stool, a third deputy suffering a leg injury, and a DeLand officer being hit in the head with a bottle. The Sheriff’s Office arrested seven people at the party, including three felons found with firearms. No one was wearing masks.

The aerial views of the crowd look like they could be be thermal imaging. With a thermal image heat generated is what is seen. Heat would be the  brightest thing seen which would be really convenient if you wanted to check an entire crowd to see who has a fever. With the Covid-19 pandemic of course there should not be any crowds over 50 people. Folks at this block party were certainly not social distancing and therefor the virus could spread easily among them and then they in turn, could pass the virus on to relatives and friends. Though I like the idea of thermal imaging, the police images are likely taken with night vision goggles.

Spring Hill has been a designated Covid-19 hot spot by the local the health department and testing will start Thursday May 21, 2020. People found out about the event through a flyer and social media.  The City of DeLand and Volusia County both confirmed earlier this week that they issued no permits for the block party.

Most in the crowd were black, and some made accusations that breaking up the crowd was racially play out until 10pm but it kept going past midnight. In a statement released alongside body camera footage from May 16, 2020 Sheriff Mike Chitwood said the police action taken that night was not in response to race but instead was for public safety.

“Not only was this a public safety issue, but it was a matter of public health,” Chief Umberger said, “no one should be getting together in large groups of 50 or more as of today under any circumstances in accordance with the order by Governor Ron DeSantis. While we may be reopening different parts of the city, county and state, no one should be having any large gatherings until the governor says it’s safe to do so.” Umberger added.

“It’s a personal responsibility (social distancing), it’s not law enforcement’s job to enforce quote unquote social distancing,” Chitwood responded during a news conference.

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.