Biden Sends 200 Ventilators to Florida

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

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

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

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

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

Sturgis Yet Again

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

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

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

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

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

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

Freedom to Drown

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

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

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

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

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

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

Casa Feliz

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On May 13, 2021 the CDC had announced that fully vaccinated people can participate in many of the activities that they did before the pandemic.

I still refused to hold Crealde School of Art classes indoors choosing instead to take my students to outdoor sites to sketch. On this weekend we went to Casa Feliz in Winter Park.

My first lesson was to make sure you are always in the shade because the Florida sun can be hellish. Most of my students scattered to shady shops under trees but this student decided to sit on the stone wall around the back patio. Within 15 minuted she was baking in the sun.

No one wore masks outside but I wore my mask any time I approached a student. I approached this student and suggested she back up into the shade since the basic outlines of her sketch were established. Adding color to a sketch needn’t always be done in the exact spot where the sketch was started.

I had to do this sketch super fast since I spent most of my time visiting each student and offering feedback and suggestions. The backs of most of my sketches in this sketchbook have the rough sketches I did for each student to advise them on how to set up compositions.

On July 18, 2021 it was reported, that the latest Covid-19 hospital patients are unvaccinated and increasingly younger. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government reported 1,008 daily coronavirus cases with just one week to go before the start of the Olympics.

Ghost Light

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A ghost light is an electric light that is left on the stage of a theater when the theater is unoccupied and would otherwise be completely dark. A popular theatrical superstition is that every theater has a ghost, and some theaters have traditions to appease ghosts that reach far back into their history. One such superstition states that ghost lights provide opportunities for ghosts to perform onstage, thus appeasing them and preventing them from cursing the theater or sabotaging the set or production.

Many theaters forced to close during the COVID-19 pandemic have renewed the tradition of ghost lights as a way of indicating the theaters will one day re-open. The Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, Canada has burned a ghost light through both the 1918 and 2020 pandemics.

On July 30, 2021 it was announced that Broadway audiences will need masks and proof of vaccination when shows reopen in the fall. Theaters will only reopen to 100 percent capacity. Audiences must wear masks except while eating or drinking in designated locations. The Metropolitan Opera plans to bar children under 12, who are ineligible to be inoculated against coronavirus. All of New York’s 41 Broadway theaters are mandating documentation of full vaccination before allowing indoor entry to patrons, performers, backstage crew and theater staff for all shows.

Exceptions are being made for children under 12 and people with a medical condition or closely held religious belief that prevents vaccination. These guests must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours of the performance start time, or a negative COVID-19 antigen test taken within six hours of the performance start time.

Pass Over raised the curtain on August 4, 2021 at the August Wilson Theatre. Proof of full vaccination was already required to get a seat at Bruce Springsteen’s sold out solo show seating 1,721, which opened on  at the St. James Theatre June 2021. “A uniform policy makes it simple for our audiences and should give even more confidence to our guests about how seriously Broadway is taking audience safety,” League president Charlotte St. Martin said in the statement.

 

Elementary Watson, Wear a Damn Mask

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Mad Cow presented Hound of the Baskervilles by Steven Canny & John Nicholson and directed by Tony Simotes as a soft opening for the theater. It was originally slated to open in January but the dates kept being pushed back because o the pandemic. They decided to present the show in July after the cast had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Three actors, Michael Geniac, Tommy Keesling and Anthony Pyatt Jr. seemed to ply a cast of dozens. I had read the Sir Conan Doyle book in high school so I was somewhat familiar with the story which was rather mysterious and foreboding. This fast paced show however was a madcap comedy that delivered on the laughs. Anthony Pratt did an admirable jog as Sherlock Holmes and he certainly got an amazing workout with lightning quick costume changes. Tommy Keesling was hilarious as the bumbling and yet quite insightful Watson. Michael Geniac performed primarily as Sir Henry Baskerville but was also hilarious as a cast of lower cast characters. As one he carried a sheep in a sack dragging his bum leg. Some of the acting hearkened back to the timeless physical performances in the early silent comedies. The sound and lighting cues in this show were spot on.

Mad Cow strongly advised non vaccinated patrons to wear masks although county government is advising everyone vaccinated and non vaccinated should wear masks indoors. Social distancing consisted of one seat between groups of people which amounts to about two feet of distance. Our group wore masks the entire time but mask usage in the audience was spotty at best. A fog machine supplied thick plumes of smoke which functioned as a reminder of how we were all swapping air in the small theater.

Some of the biggest laughs came from interactions with a stuffed scarecrow that represented a body that had fallen from a cliff. The pants slipped down resulting in some undignified bum humor. After a solid year with no theater it was fun to just relax an laugh out loud.  Mad Cow as now dipped it’s toe into live theater after a year of pandemic isolation. I do hope theater can safely continue to inch back into everyday culture. Broadway shows are beginning to open starting this fall, 2021 in NYC.

Panera in a Pandemic

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There were 73,000 new cases of COVID-19 in Florida yesterday, July 24, 2021. Florida can now boast one fourth of the cases in the United States as the Delta variant rages across the country. Florida leads the country in cases and hospitalizations. In Orlando, a woman reported on her trip to a local hospital. Has had to go to the hospital frequently for outpatient care and her doctor sent her to the ER. She is used to being wheeled straight in but not this time. Patients lines every hallway, some curling up in the middle of the floor. Paramedics waited in line to drop off patients. Social distancing was impossible. Some people lowered their masks to cough and then lifted them back up, while a woman vomited into her hands two feet in front of her.

Because of the recent surge in cases, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings has advised that everyone should wear masks when in crowded places indoors. Of course everyone interprets “Crowded” differently. Some folks don’t think a room is crowded unless their nose is physically inside someone else’s open mouth and their nipples are pressed up against someone else’s chest.

I had promised my class a trip to an air conditioned restaurant to sketch on location before the Delta variant surge had gained steam. I let them all know that we could go if they agreed to all wear their masks the entire time we were inside the restaurant. In an overheard conversation one man said that Panera is less crowded on Sunday, which was the day we were there to sketch. The place was packed. Staff all wore masks and I noticed that the cashier washed his hands each time he handled money.

Besides my students, no one in the restaurant was wearing masks. Most of the students ordered food and drink and after eating only one student put her mask back on. I respected another student who put her mask on any time I approached to give advise or notes. I chose to eat at a table outside and then came back in to get a quick sketch. I worked on my tablet at first but the battery died, so I did this second sketch on paper which never blinks off and dies.

Since my students didn’t follow my advised safety protocol, I will not be bringing them to any other venues. From now on classes will be held outside on the Crealde campus where they can go mask less. With CDC guidance contradicting local advice, people are left to navigate a grey area of health and safety measures. If you give people the option to ignore science, they will live in joyful ignorance every time.

Independence Day

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On March 12, 2021 President Joe Biden declared July 4 could mark the start of US “independence from this virus.” In a July 4, 2021 speech, he celebrated the “heroic” vaccination campaign on the country’s Independence Day holiday. He hadn’t learned from history that declaring victory too early is often short sighted.

In Barnstable County, Massachusetts people gathered in large groups to celebrate the holiday. It was the Hot Vax Summer Celebration and people wanted to party mask less as they had before the pandemic broke out. Pool parties and shirtless conga lines were in store.

469 COVID-19 cases were identified among people who attended. 346 (74%) occurred in fully vaccinated people. Among five COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized, four were fully vaccinated; no deaths were reported.

The bottom line conclusion was that the  SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant is highly transmissible and can be spread between vaccinated individuals. The study implies that the viral load of vaccinated and unvaccinated persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 is similar. Because of this study the CDC has recommended on July 27, 2021 that all individuals both vaccinated and unvaccinated should wear masks indoors or when in crowds. The delta variant of the coronavirus is more contagious than previously thought. It is more communicable than Ebola and can spread faster than the chickenpox. While vaccines appear to remain strong against the virus, new evidence suggests that fully vaccinated people with so-called breakthrough infections may be every bit as infectious as those yet to receive their shots, even if their own cases remain relatively mild. As of July 31, 2021 the P-Town outbreak had ballooned to 965 cases.

Provincetown, Massachusetts, has restored its indoor mask mandate after a cluster of Covid-19 cases followed the Fourth of July holiday.

Anti-Mask Grave Diggers

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Indonesia is making Anti Maskers dig graves for COVID-19 victims. As a punishment for violating Indonesian mask mandates, eight people who refused to wear face masks to combat the spread of COVID-19 were, in fact, ordered by a local official to dig graves, USA TODAY reported.

Leaders in Cerme, a district located in East Java, had set out stricter policies surrounding the enforcement of social distancing and mask-wearing due to a recent uptick in COVID-19 cases.

Indonesian news site Tribune News reported that Suyono, the leader of Cerme, proposed grave digging as a punishment to those who violated the local mask mandate due to a lack of gravediggers in the area.

“There are only three available gravediggers at the moment, so I thought I might as well put these people to work with them,” Suyono told Tribune News. “Hopefully, this can create a deterrent effect against violations.”

Suyono said two people were assigned to each grave, one to dig the grave and the other to insert wooden boards into the burial holes to support the corpses. However, the violators did not participate in the actual burials and were forbidden from touching the bodies, Australia SBS News reported. The task was left to health officials who were wearing proper protective equipment.

Those in Creme caught not wearing a mask have the option of accepting a fine of 150,000 rupiah, which is equivalent to $10 in the U.S., or accepting a “social punishment,” according to Suyono.

Suyono told CNN that while most people have accepted social punishments, such as push-ups or cleaning, he hopes grave digging would show “firsthand the real and serious effect of COVID-19” and added that none of the gravediggers were present when the bodies were buried.

According to Johns Hopkins University, Indonesia is the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak with the highest death toll in Southeast Asia. Mask-wearing ha been required since April 2021. On July 22, 2021 there were 1449 deaths in Indonesia and that is most certainly under reported. There have been over 3 million cases and over 30,000 deaths to date in the country.

Lollapalooza

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Lollapalooza was a four day concert event in Chicago which wrapped up on August 1, 2021. An estimated 100,000 people attended.

Leading up to the festival, Chicago’s COVID-19 daily case rate was quintuple what it was a month ago. It does not take a seasoned epidemiologist to see that this will be a super spreader event. You can be sure that there will be a sharp increase in cases of COVID-19 in Chicago and the surrounding area in two weeks time.

Concert goers had to show proof of vaccination or a COVID test that was negative to attend. Videos posted showed staff barely checking vaccination cards on entry. The Delta variant is proving quite successful at breaking through and infecting fully vaccinated individuals. When a vaccinated person get the virus they may be asymptomatic or just show symptoms of a common cold. Their airways however can carry as much of the virus as an unvaccinated person and they can easily spread the virus to 8 or 9 other people. The ancestral strains of COVID -19 only spread to 2 or 3 other people

A study from Israel shows that the Pfizer vaccine is showing decreasing efficacy over time. The study found that there was only a 41% symptomatic protection against getting infected. The original protection against symptomatic infection when the shots were first given was 90%. Dr. John Campbell from England speculates that the timing between vaccine doses accounts for this reduction in efficacy. Israel had 3 weeks between shots. The UK had 8 weeks or more between shots and the efficacy is over twice as high. In the United States we have 3 weeks between doses just as in Israel. It is fair to assume that vaccinated individuals in the United States have an increasing chance of infection over time but remain safe from severe disease and death.

In May 2021 Lollapalooza festival goers were told they needed to show a negative COVID-19 test taken 24 hours or less before entering, that number was increased to 72 hours, allowing a much longer window to theoretically contract the virus before the festival. Earlier this month, the Verknipt festival in the Netherlands admitted unvaccinated attendees as long as they had a negative test taken within 40 hours of entering. The festival was later linked to 1,000 COVID-19 cases among its 20,000 attendees. So if that math holds up Lollapalooza may result in 5000 or more infections. Now lets say those 5000 people spread the virus to 8 friends and family. That would be 40,000 people infected.

At the Rolling Loud hip-hop festival in Miami two weekends ago. Tens of thousands of people showed up daily to the festival, which did not require masks, vaccinations or negative tests. Last week, the rapper Dess Dior and the actor Alexa Leighton, among others, announced on social media that they had tested positive for COVID-19. Their infections coincided with a larger spike in Florida at large, in which COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have risen dramatically.

Lollapalooza was an outdoor event but the hundreds of thousands of people were packed in like sardines. Delta has also proven effective at spreading better outdoors. It has spread at soccer matches. Basically anyone who went to Lollapalooza who was not vaccinated is at a very high risk of getting infected and having severe symptoms. When I saw photos of the crowds I just could not believe what I was seeing. This was absolute insanity and Chicago’s Mayor Lori Lightfoot seemed to think it was a great idea.

Post script: As of September 6, 2021, according to Chicago City officials there are 200 confirmed cases of COVID-19 associated with the Lollapalooza concerts.