COVID-19 Outbreak at Mar-A Lago

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Disease and pestilence follow the ex-president anywhere he goes. Mar-a-Lago the former president’s residence in Florida has an outbreak of COVID-19. It has been partially closed after some staff members tested positive.

The club said in a statement that the Beach Club and a la carte dining room were closed, but did not specify how many people had tested positive. Banquet and event services remain open. It seems insane that banquets which are by definition large gathering of people would remain open.

In January, images surfaced from a New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago that showed a number of guests not wearing masks. The resort was handed a formal warning by Palm Beach County which said the event had violated coronavirus regulations. The ex-president has always snubbed basic health precautions like masks and social distancing.

Palm Beach neighbors don’t want Trump living at Mar-a-Lago. A demand letter was reportedly delivered to the town of Palm Beach asserting that Trump lost his legal right to live at Mar-a-Lago when he converted the estate from his private residence to a private club in the 1990s.

News of the closure was first reported by the Associated Press.

 

9-11 Memorial and Museum

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Pam Schwartz and I had an opportunity to see some of the items from the 9-11 Memorial and Museum (180 Greenwich Street New York, NY 10007) up close. On the table in this sketch is an American flag which was covered with the names of people who died when the twin Towers fell. It is known as the flag of Honor. I didn’t have the time to write all the names. Versions of this flag are actually available online. Over 800,000 of these flags have been distributed across America and throughout the world.

The 9/11 Memorial & Museum is the country’s principal institution concerned with exploring 9/11 by documenting its impact, and examining its continuing significance. The museum honors those who were killed in the 2001 and 1993 attacks.

The 9/11 Memorial Museum is now open five days a week as a one-way visitor experience with new health and safety measures in place and ongoing operational changes to ensure a safe Museum experience.  All visitors must wear CDC-approved masks and purchase tickets in advance for timed visits that allow for social distancing. Museum capacity is limited to 25 percent.

 

 

Times Square Pop-Up

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On March 12, 2020 Broadway in NYC went black due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. All 41 Broadway theaters shuttered their performances. A solid year has gone by with no live theater on Broadway. This has been the longest shutdown in Broadway’s  history. To mark the one year anniversary, a live pop-up concert titled We Will Be Back, was held in commemoration of the industry’s lost year. Disney‘s Frozen was the first musical to shutter permanently.

The pop up concert provided a sense of hope as the industry and city move forward from the challenges of the past year. Over 97,000 arts workers have suffered during the theaters darkest hours. All the performers at this pop up performance were paid.

“I don’t think anyone of us expected it to last this long,” Brian Stokes Mitchell said. “That’s what’s been so shocking about it. It’s why I’m so happy I’ve been with the Actors Fund and to be able to help people get all through this terrible, terrible time we’re going through.”

The gathering was presented by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, NYCNext, and the Times Square Alliance. It is directed and produced by Holly-Anne Devlin/Kaleidoscope Entertainment, and Executive Produced by Blake Ross. Social distancing, face shields and masks were the norm.

The $17 billion a year theater industry still doesn’t know when it will get back to work, but the feeling is certainly optimistic.

Pre-Pandemic: FusionFest

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FusionFest happens around Thanksgiving in front of the Dr. Philips Center for the Performing Arts. For this sketch I sat at the end of a long row of international flags. Tents were set up for merchandise and food courts.

Fusion Fest in 2021 is scheduled for November 27th and 28th. The goal of Fusion Fest is to celebrate the people and the many cultures that make Central Florida awesome. It is is a free, two-day, festival that draws people from more than 110 different cultures to experience music, dance, food, visual arts, spoken word, games and interactive activities.

It all began when Sam Roberts of the Caribbean American Passport and Yves Bouele of the African Leaders Council wanted too create  some kind of international event. While there are dozens of festivals centered around one heritage or another in our community, we thought, What if we all came together at the same time?

 

Pre-Pandemic: The Lucky Lure

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The Lucky Lure is a dog-friendly open-air bar with a long, always changing list of beers and live music nights. The Orlando Urban Sketchers group had a meet up in Ivanhoe Village and I decided to sketch inside the Lucky Lure while sipping a beer. Most artists were sketching a block north at an intersection outside but this spot had everything I needed. Today, masks are required.

On the street the lure has wooden shudders which fold open and are secured to the ceiling.  This allows anyone walking by to see into the essentially open air bar which is an advantage in the pandemic.

When all the urban sketchers had finished their work we met outside the Lucky Lure to compare sketches. The wide variety of styles are always an inspiration.

A large apartment complex called The Yards has been erected behind The Lucky Lure which displaced a number of railroad warehouse artists studios and The Venue which was one of my favorite edgy local theaters. As Orlando builds vertical it is doing it by displacing a once quirky arts neighborhood.

Early Spike

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With COVID vaccines finally rolling out in a timely manner the tenancy of clueless governors is to assume the pandemic is over. The trouble is that the daily cases in America have plateaued at about 50,0000 to 60,000 cases a day which is similar to the case counts during last summer’s surge.

CDC officials warned a far more contagious variant of the coronavirus first identified in Britain (B.1.1.7) will likely become the dominant source of infection in the United States. Florida is leading the country with the most cases of the U.K. coronavirus variant. B.1.1.7 is about 50 percent more contagious than the original strain. This the virus can spread much faster and  cause more deaths than the original virus.

Dr. Fauci warned against early re-openings, he said, “We’re not in the end zone yet. And that’s one of the issues that when you plateau, there’s always the risk of a surge,” the top infectious disease expert added. Despite this warning, states like Texas and Mississippi have dropped mask mandates and opened 100%. President Joe Biden declared that every American should be eligible to get vaccinated by May 1, 2021. If everyone gets the first available vaccine tragedy can be averted. However about 49% the former president’s supporters have said they are against getting vaccinated. The former president and his wife were vaccinated in secret before leaving office. Fauci said he wishes the former President would use his popularity among Republicans to persuade more of his followers to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Bolsanaro

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Brazil has surpassed the United States with 2,000 Covid-related deaths in a single day for the first time, as infection rates soar.

President Jair Bolsonaro has downplayed the threat from the virus from the start. Earlier this week he told people to “stop whining“. Bolsonaro is more of a buffoon and threat to public health than Trump once was.

Across Brazil, intensive care units (ICU) are at more than 80% capacity, according to Margareth Dalcolmo, a doctor and researcher at Fiocruz. In 15 state capitals, ICUs are at more than 90% capacity, including in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

Reports say the capital Brasilia has now reached full ICU capacity, while two cities – Porto Alegre and Campo Grande – have exceeded capacity.

Brazilian epidemiologist Dr. Pedro Hallal told the BBC World Service‘s Outside Source programme: “If we do not start vaccinating the population here very soon, it will become a massive tragedy.” Brazil is facing its biggest crisis since the pandemic began – but still, it feels like people are trying to ignore it.

The surge in cases in recent days has been attributed to the spread of a highly contagious variant of the virus – named P1 – which is thought to have originated in the Amazon city of Manaus. People who had been infected by the COVID virus and recovered are being re-infected by the new variant. The worry is that the P1 variant is a looming threat over the progress made in the region and the world. Scientists are hopeful that, if necessary, vaccines can be tweaked to work against new variants.

Bolsenaro’s Health Minister, General Eduardo Pazuello, lacks public health expertise and supports Bolsonaro’s push to use unproven drugs to fight COVID-19, while downplaying the need for social distancing. Two previous Health Ministers had resigned because they could not in good conscience promote the use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine. Pazuello was unable to secure timely supplies of vaccines for the country. “Having vaccinated too few people, the result has been “catastrophic,” said Dr. Ludhmila Hajjar, a cardiologist. Cheap flights fro Brazil to Florida can be found on Kyack for $162. The first case of the P1 variant was reported in Florida on February 18, 2021. An outbreak of this virus anywhere in the world in an outbreak of the virus everywhere in the world. Happy Spring Break folks.

Coughing Karen

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The LA Times reported that just after noon on March 7, 2021,Uber driver, Subhakar Khadka picked up three women in San Francisco California. On woman was not wearing a mask so he had to end the ride after two blocks. It is Uber policy that all passenger must wear a mask.

In a dashboard camera video widely circulated on social media, the woman coughs on the driver and curses his mask-wearing.

“And I’ve got corona!” one of the other passengers says while pulling down her face covering.

Then the mask less woman grabbed his phone which he was able to recover. She then ripped of his mask. destroying it in the process. After the women exited the car, one of them pepper-sprayed Khadka through an open window before fleeing, police said. The driver, a Nepali immigrant, told KPIX-TV that he thought he was targeted because of his race.

The Karen has been banned from the Uber app, a company spokesperson said in a statement. Lyft also barred the woman from its app, according to a tweet from the company. The maskless passenger and the other woman who lowered her mask to threaten the driver have been arrested in Las Vegas police on March 9, 2021 on suspicion of assault and battery, assault with a caustic chemical, conspiracy, and a violation of state health and safety codes. The Karen tried to defend her actions wearing a pink bra and panties on twitter.

Uber offered the driver $20 to try and clean the pepper spray out of his car’s upholstery. Cyan Banister, an activist and entrepreneur who was an early investor in Uber, started a GoFundMe account for Khadka. The fund had reached more than $94,645 in pledges as of March 14, 2021.

In a statement, the San Francisco police departments said, “We take this conduct very seriously in San Francisco, and we’re committed to ensuring that justice is done in this case.”

FEMA Vaccine Site at Valencia College

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Now that teachers are allowed to get vaccinated, Pam and I went to the Valencia College, FEMA Vaccination site. White tents were set up in the college parking lot and National Guard troops handled much of the logistics.

This sketch was done in the first of a series of switchbacks. The site officially opened at 7am and we were there about an hour early. We didn’t actually wait an hour since the line started pressing forward before I finished this sketch.

In each of the seven tents we had to provide a drivers license and proof of school employment. We had to answer questions about foreign travel, and if we had any COVID-19  symptoms. Temperature checks happened several times. It was nice to be in a place where everyone wore a mask. Pubic health took priority over politics. White Tape marks on the pavement kept people six feet apart in line.

We had a choice to take the Johnson and Johnson vaccine or the Pfizer vaccine. We chose Pfizer. The shot itself was quick and painless. Now I am waiting to see if I get any side effects. Honestly I feel good. This is the first time I have felt some hope for humanity. The birds are chirping, and the weather is gorgeous. Perhaps life is beginning to return to normal. In April we will return to this site for our second dose of the vaccine.

Pfizer said its Covid-19 vaccine blocked 94% of asymptomatic infections in an Israeli study. The study also found the vaccine was at least 97% effective against symptomatic Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths, the company said.

One Year Ago Today

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Due to Covid-19 their are NO Top 6 Picks for this Weekend! Orlando is on lock down. STAY HOME. Say Safe.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic.  The number of cases of the virus outside China had increased 13 fold. The number of affected countries has tripled. There are no more than 118,000 cases in 114 countries. The number of cases, deaths and countries affected will continue to climb. As of March 9, 2021 525,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, which is more American deaths that WWI and WWII combined.

WHO has been following the outbreak and they are alarmed by the spread and severity of the disease and they are alarmed by the inaction by governments. This is the first pandemic caused by a corona virus. The United States now has the most coronavirus cases and deaths of any country in the world.

County Mayor Jerry Demings announced that an Orange County Florida resident died while traveling abroad in California. As of this morning, Demings has declared a local emergency for Orange County. The emergency operations center has been activated and is fully staffed. He compared this outbreak to the three hurricanes that ravaged Central Florida in 2004.

Gatherings of 200 people or more have been canceled. The goal is to stop the spread of the Covid-19 Virus. An Orange County Executive Order is still in effect requiring residents to wear a face covering when in public spaces.
The Parks Department will cancel all programs for seniors. City-hosted, sponsors and permitted events with 50+ attendees are cancelled or postponed until further notice.
Orange County Spring Break camps will continue as planned, but field trips have been canceled. There are many Spring Break Camps happening in Central Florida in 2021 despite the pandemic. Yet, all youth and adult sporting activities and programs at Families, Parks and Recreation facilities are suspended effective immediately until further notice according to the Orlando City web site.
County Special events have been postponed, including Fort Christmas Bluegrass Festival and other events. The 2021 Fort Christmas Bluegrass Festival has also been canceled.

City Mayor Buddy Dyer issued a state of emergency for the city of Orlando.

All City events have been canceled through the end of the month, including the plant sale at Leu Gardens, The Sunday Farmers Market at Lake Eola. The plant sale at Leu Gardens is being held March 13 and 14, 2021 despite the pandemic. The Lake Eola Farmers Market is open each Sunday in 2021 despite the pandemic with guests required to wear masks.
All activities related to seniors have been suspended.
Youth activities will go on.

Disney announced that Walt Disney World will be closed starting Sunday March 15, 2020 through the end of the month. Employees of the Disney theme parks will be paid despite the closure. The hotels at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris will remain open until further notice. The retail and dining complexes, Disney Springs at Walt Disney World and Disney Village at Disneyland Paris, will remain open. All Disney Cruise line departures have been suspended. Disney World re-opened July 11, 2020. Masks are required. Disney World is sold out as the 2021 spring break approaches.

The release of Disney’s live action remake of Mulan is being delayed with no determined release date due to Covid-19 concerns. Mulan was released on September 4, 2020 on Disney +. Disney has also pulled the release of New Mutants and the Guillermo del Toro produced horror movie AntlersA. AntlersA is slate to be releases on September 21, 2021.

Universal Studios also announced the Universal Orlando Resort will close on Sunday. Hourly employees will be paid for any work scheduled through the end of March, a company spokesperson said in a statement. Universal Orlando’s hotels and Universal CityWalk will remain open. Universal Studios re-opened on June 5, 2020,

Legoland also announced closure due to Covid-19. Legoland re-opened June 1, 2020.

As of today the City of Orlando has not canceled any city-hosted events and or meetings. I was at a city hosted Diversitastic dining event just last night. As we ate dinner, the Theme parks announced closures. The city says they are taking the decision to cancel or postpone city-hosted events very seriously. There are ongoing discussions that are happening every day as they continue to monitor and evaluate the situation. Diversitastic dining experiences have been happening monthly despite the pandemic. Staff wear face coverings, and patrons are asked to do so when arriving and interacting with waitstaff. Temperature are taken before entry, and hand sanitizer is provided. Guests are seated only with their own party, at a safe but friendly distance from other tables. Electronic payment in advance means money will only change hands if extra drinks are purchased.

CDC’s recommendations to reduce your risk of exposure:

Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
Stay home when you are sick.
Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.

Should you see a doctor?

Ask yourself:

Have you traveled outside the U.S. in the last two weeks?
Have you been in close contact with someone testing positive for COVID-19?
Do you have a fever greater than 100 degrees?

A fever alone does not indicate that you need to be tested for COVID-19. But if you’ve traveled or come in contact with a COVID-19-positive person, you need to be tested. Call your medical provider first and get instructions on how to report for a test. Symptoms of Covid-19 may include fever, cough difficulty breathing and sore throat. Symptoms generally appear in two to 14 days after exposure. Health officials said most patents experience mild symptoms and can recover at home.
However some patients, particularly those with underlying medical conditions, may experience more severe respiratory illness.