One Million and Counting

Posted on by Thor

Over one million Americans have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March of 2020. Of each of those deaths about 9 people are left to morn the loss. COVID-19 has left an estimated 199,000 children in the U.S. without one or both of their parents. Lovers lost a partner. Some partners died within hour of each other unable to see one anoter in the final moments. The toll is incalculable.

Each wave has brought about an endless ticking of loses as people choose to go about life as normal assuming it can never happen to them.

The basic mitigation measure have not changed since the start of the pandemic, masking, washing hands, vaccination and social distancing. Yet this seems too much for many. Masking became a political flash point rather than a simple 50 cent tool to avoid infection. Misinformation convinced so many to avoid vaccines. Since the advent of the vaccines every other life lost could have been saved by that simple shot. It is an absolute tragedy. Over 300.000 could have lived if they only got the primary series of vaccinations.

ABC reported that as of March 25, 2022 about three quarters of the dead, or around 730,000, have been people 65 and older. Many of them were otherwise healthy and, statistically, would have lived many more years, said Jennifer Dowd, a demographer at the University of Oxford. About 240,000 Americans between the ages of 18 and 64 have died, nearly a quarter of the total toll.

As the next wave slowly rolls in, ignorance persists and large indoor gatherings are the norm all over the country. Using my art to keep track of super spreading events has become an exhausting endeavor. It is impossible to keep up. Against this backdrop, testing sites are being closed and it has become impossible to keep track of the rising numbers of aces since people test at home or don’t bother testing since they want to avoid isolating at home. Such devastation has not been seen since World War II, when about 418,000 Americans died. This war is not over.

Eola Slumber

Posted on by Thor

I went to Lake Eola in Orlando Florida to conduct an advanced Urban Sketching workshop with a student. As I was walking around the lake to meet her near the swam boats, would be the only one in the park wearing a face mask. I was wrong. I saw someone on a park bench fast asleep using a face mask to cover their eyes, to keep out the bright Florida sun. I didn’t have time to sketch this person, so I committed it to memory.

It seemed to me a perfect analogy to where we are as a country right now. Most Americans are “done” with the pandemic and have decided to put on blinders to go about life as normal in the midst of the pandemic. We are in a momentary lull. But lulls don’t last in a pandemic. It ain’t over until the fat lady sings.

The White House may decide to back off on the COVID National Emergency status. The public health emergency (PHE) was initially declared by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in late January 2020, pursuant to Section 319 of the Public Health Service Act. A PHE lasts for 90 days and must be renewed to continue; the PHE for COVID-19 has been renewed several times, most recently in April 2022, and is currently scheduled to expire in mid-July 2022. Possibly allowing the PHE to expire isn’t being based on experts or any science but rather on the fact that there are mid term elections coming up and it would be impossible to get re-elected while the country was in the midst of a national emergency. The only solution is to put on the blinders.

Omicron is 6 Months Old

Posted on by Thor

Omicron is just 6 months old. It appeared as an entirely new strain of the virus not being related to the Alpha or Delta variants of COVID-19. Some researchers believe it may have infected mice and the strain and new variants blossomed in the mouse population before jumping back to infect humans.

The good new is that Omicron is less virulent than Delta which it replaced. Though less virulent, so many people became infected with Omicron all at once during the January spike, that it ultimately resulted in more deaths than from Delta.

Perhaps the fact that so many people have been infected has helped build up immunity. The trouble is that the immunity from infection and vaccination eventually wanes.

There are a lot of cases out there right now. The exact number is impossible to tell since testing sites across the country have been shut down and those who are infected take at home tests which are not counted or they don’t test at all.

Hospitalizations right now are lower than at any other time during the pandemic. Human nature is to say I am done with COVID when there is a perceived lull in cases. We have been here before, many times. However future variants combined with waning immunity may result in the next wave being much worse than what we are experiencing right now. This virus is unpredictable.  Any forecasts done prior to January of 2022 would not have any idea about Omicron. It was a curve ball that came out of nowhere.

We can hope that Omicron continues to become less severe in the future, but hope is not a good foundation for public health policy. The White House has made statements that hint that the worst of the pandemic is behind us, but lets face it a pandemic isn’t great a president’s chances of re-election in mid term elections. On the other  hand the White House warned of 100 million possible cases this fall and winter if the COVID funding package from Congress was not approved. Welcome to the strange world of mixed messaging.

BA2.12.1 Over NYC

Posted on by Thor

The north east is being attacked by a new and more contagious variant of Omicron.  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data released today shows BA.2.12.1, thought to be 30% more infectious than BA.2

Omicron Subvariant BA.2.12.1 will become the dominant variant in the country in the next 7-10 days. It is already driving Covid hospitalizations. New York  Governor Kathy Hochul tested positive for Covid-19 on May 9, 2022. Late night hosts Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel as well as Vice President Kamala Harris have all tested positive for COVID-19. Others include,  Broadway, the actors Matthew Broderick and Daniel Craig, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and at least three members of the New York City Council.

New York City lifted many of its mask and vaccine requirements. It looks like they plan to face this new wave without basic mitigation measures. The prevalence of fevers across the city, which can offer a forewarning of Covid trends, has reached levels last seen at some of the worst points of the pandemic, according to data from internet-connected thermometers.

In the region comprised of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, where the sub-variant was first identified, the variant is already tied to 66% of new cases sequenced. As of the past weekend, hospitalizations and deaths in New York were up 38% and 24%, respectively.

If there is good news in the new data, it’s that the next wave of Omicron variants, called BA.4 and BA.5 which are believed  to be even more transmissible than BA.2.12.1, have not seen the same rate of spread in the U.S. since their arrival here about March 19, 2022.

Prom Superspreaders

Posted on by Thor

ABC News reported that close to 100 students tested positive for COVID-19 after attending their High School Prom. Masks were optional but “strongly recommended,” for the prom held at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.

San Mateo High School held the party on April 9, 2022 about 18 miles from the school. 90 out of the nearly 600 students who attended tested positive for the virus.

According to San Mateo Union High School District Superintendent Kevin Skelly, all of the cases were mild.

Though the BA.2 variant is highly contagious, it is not having a major impact on hospitalizations or deaths.

Despite the outbreak, school leaders and students said having the prom was worth it to provide a sense of normalcy during the pandemic. Other schools in the district will be adding more mitigation measures to their proms so they don’t experience similar outbreaks. The plan is to test students attending the prom to find out of they are COVID positive before they spread the virus. This isn’t rocket science. It is clear that school leaders don’t give a crap about student health.

Gridiron Superspreader

Posted on by Thor

The Gridiron Club is the oldest and among the most prestigious journalistic organizations in Washington, D.C. The annual white-tie-and-gowns dinner attracted about 630 guests this year. Last year’s even was canceled due to COVID, so this year was to be a celebration of a return to normal.

It has been reported that over 70 attendees of the annual Gridiron Dinner have tested positive for COVID-19. The Gridiron Dinner became a super spreader event. Two were two Cabinet members, two members of Congress and a top aide to Vice President Kamala Harris. Oh, in a shocking case of 1+1=2, Kamala Harris is infected.

Also in attendance were Chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci and CDC Director Rochelle Walenski. These top medical advisors managed to avoid infection though Walensky had a case of COVID a few short weeks ago. She was offering COVID advice virtually as she self isolated at home. Dr. Fauci said he wore a mask for the reception and only took it off to eat.

The A-list guests were asked to show proof of vaccination but not negative tests, and many mingled freely without masks at the dinner at the downtown Renaissance Washington Hotel. Thus far, none of those infected have reported serious illness. The Washington Post has learned of about a half-dozen journalists tested positive. Their identities are being protected since they did not announce their cases publicly.

After a cocktail reception, guests sat together at long, narrow tables for hours and watched satirical skits and songs performed by members. On stage that evening women in COVID virus costumes bounced around on stage while actors and a song lifted from Hamilton which altered lyrics shouting “I’m not gonna take that Shot!”  At the event’s conclusion, guests joined hands for the traditional singing of “Auld Lang Syne.” The stupidity and irony is profound.

These A-list viral hosts are getting the best possible treatments which most everyday Americans would be hard pressed to find. The Journalists and politicians are regularly testes for COVID-19, but what about the staff at the hotel? Are they getting tested and treated with the same level of care? Do they have a top notch insurance plan? Do they have access to the new Paxlovid COVID pill? The A-list guests have the status and access needed to stay healthy. If you don’t have the same status and access, so be it. Best of luck.

White house messaging now is that the pandemic is a matter of personal choice. You get to choose the level of risk you take every day while airlines and mass transit are dropped all masking requirements. No states have mask mandates in place. Only 30% of Americans have gotten a booster shot of vaccine. The white house is claiming victory over the virus even as cases rise. To mitigate public safety is bad for any re-election bid. Ignore the hundreds of daily deaths from COVID and go about life as normal. Welcome to the new normal of public health apartheid.

Spring Plant

Posted on by admin

I had a request while back to do a simple spring scene. People want to believe the pandemic is over and return to life as normal. So what is this “new normal?” Deaths are trending down and we seem to have become comfortable with about 3oo deaths a day due to COVID-19.

However due to BA.2, cases are trending upwards once again. Since many test at home or do not test at all, it is impossible to fully assess this new approaching wave. America is fast approaching one million dead since the start of the pandemic. Globally the number of dead may be triple the numbers officially reported.

A bipartisan group of scientists and health and policy experts calling themselves the COVID roadmap group are releasing a blueprint Monday of how we could move into what they call “the next normal.” The world won’t return to a pre-COVID normal. Could the future see better testing and treatment for this airborne virus?

COVID is here to stay. The opportunity to contain the virus has long since been fumbled. We need to figure out how to live much more safely way with it. We need to do much better with testing. For example, one of the things we want to really achieve is what is called test and treat. So if you find you have symptoms of COVID, you should be able to get tested within hours. Then on the spot, you receive one of the prescriptions for very effective drugs. The problem is that the whole U.S health system is broken and getting instant treatment is only available for the rich and well insured. The costs involved will keep the uninsured form seeking treatment and the virus will continue to spread.

If COVID becomes endemic, and everyone lets their guard down, then there’s a risk that many more Americans will experience long COVID creating huge and lasting health impacts. This is the yet unrecognized terrible tale of COVID. As an artist I can not afford to live life with blinders. When I look I see.

Shadow Warfare

Posted on by Thor

Forbes reported that 32 Russian helicopters have been shot down so far by Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion of it’s peaceful neighbor. NPR put that number at 125,  the BBC at 80, and Newsweek 77.

 I have been following Ukrainian Officer Starsky on Youtube. His footage of a KA52 Russian helicopter reminded me of a burnt out skeleton of a demonic beast. The KA 52 is touted by Russia as a helicopter that can not be destroyed. Ukrainians conscripts shot down the helicopter in Hostomel.

Non-state militias are set to play a larger and less supervised role as the conflict set to explode in the Donbas of Ukraine. The Wagner Group on the Russian side is a 6,000-strong mercenary force, which is usually based in Africa and is believed to be funded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman with close links to Vladimir Putin.

About 1,000 Wagner Group fighters have been drafted in as part of the invasion. It was reported at the end of March that members of the group had been tasked with finding and assassinating the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky. They failed. Though continuing to cause massive destruction among the civilian population, the Russian forces continue to fail on every front.

Up to 20,000 volunteers, from all over the world, have joined up to fight Russian invaders. The goal of these foreign fighters is to save people and save civilians. The bulk of thee foreign fighters come from the United States, United Kingdom and Georgia, which has also been invaded by Russia. Members of this legion were the first to confront Russians at the airport in Hostomel, in the Kyiv region. The top thing needed in Ukraine is a no fly zone to stop the constant airstrikes and ballistic missiles that are constantly battering civilian populations. Since they can not gain victory on the battle fields, the Russians indiscriminately kill civilians.

Assassins

Posted on by Thor

Cheyenne Saloon and Opera House in downtown Orlando will host a production of  Assassins, which is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by John Weidman, based on an original concept by Charles Gilbert Jr.

Staged by the Florida Theatrical Association, and directed by Kenny Howard, the production makes amazing use of this historic venue which will soon faces it’s own assassination by developers who want it demolished for a condo sky rise, since what Orlando needs is more high rent shoe boxes.

Assassins lays bare the lives of nine individuals who assassinated or tried to assassinate the President of the United States, in a one-act historical musical that explores the dark side of the American experience. From John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, writers Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman bend the rules of time and space, taking us on a nightmarish roller coaster ride in which assassins and would-be assassins from different historical periods meet, interact and inspire each other to harrowing acts in the name of the American Dream.

When Pam and I arrived, I knew I wanted to sketch the production as if viewed from Lincoln’s Presidential booth at the Ford Theater. Unfortunately the Saloon’s first level balcony was to be used by actors who appeared with blood red spot lights illuminating them from below during the show. There was another balcony above that but the sight lines made it impossible to see the stage. We finally climbed to the highest levels, having to walk through the actors green room to get there. From this vantage point, the technicians and stage director took center stage, while the performers worked on the distant stage. On the balcony above the stage a band performed. Unfortunately the acoustics were not stellar from where we sat, but we both knew the play and could follow along. I should note that even from our nose bleed level I could tell the performer for  John Wilkes boot has some major singing chops.

I tend to feel a bit uncomfortable with performers holding guns. Of course actor Alec Baldwin thought his gun held blanks when he shot his cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins dead. A lawyer for Alec Baldwin said on April 21. 2022 that an investigation by New Mexico has cleared his client of wrongdoing in the fatal shooting on the set of “Rust.” Halyna’s life was found to be worth only $137,000, which is how much New Mexico fined the Rust production.  Orlando is is also where a gunman entered the Pulse Nightclub and murdered 49 people and injuring 53 others. From as far away as we were, I could not make out if the weapons were historically accurate. The gun’s sound effects were at least played down, being unrealistic slaps.

Assassins will run April 22, 2022  to May 1, 2022 at the Cheyenne Saloon on Church Street. Tickets are available now through Eventbrite. Tickets range from $22 to $100 for VIP seating.

Green Washing the Pandemic

Posted on by Thor

The CDC changed the metrics it uses to judge risk assessment for COVID-19. I have posted a map daily on this site created by COVID Act Now and follow each states progress as it ticks up from yellow, which is a low risk, up to orange, and then red, which is very high risk.

In January of this year every state was a deep blood red. Slowly cases dropped and states switched back to orange then yellow, but none ever returned to the lowest state which is green. Overnight the map switched from a collection of yellow states and states that had ticked up to higher levels of risk in the North East to a map of overall green with a few counties marked yellow. The visual assessment is that overnight the pandemic ended.

COVID Act Now is the site I have followed for this daily risk assessment. They launched the site when there was no standardized government COVID risk framework, no broadly accessible testing or vaccines, and before there were incredibly transmissible variants like Stealth Omicron.

The CDC updated their COVID framework to capture what they call “COVID-19 Community Levels.” These changes reflect the decreased risk of severe illness and death due to vaccines. COVID Act Now worked towards integrating these CDC metrics into their map. Their former “U.S. COVID Risk Level” was replaced with a “COVID Community Level” that aligns with the CDC’s Community Levels. It takes into account the same three metrics that are part of the CDC’s framework, and grades them on a three-color scale to classify COVID Community Level as low, medium, or high for every state, county, and metro in the U.S. The end result was a sudden vast swath of green washing over the map overnight. It seems like the CDC by changing the metrics is green washing the pandemic.