Fall COVID Colors

Posted on by Thor

Emerging COVID variants and waning immunity means there will be a wave of COVID infections in the fall and winter of 2022. BA.2, BA.4 and BA.5 are subsiding but other variants are in the wings to take it’s place. The effort to roll out a bi-valiant booster to combat the new variants has been anemic at best. Only 2% of Americans have opted to get the shot. Al the while Omicron is evolving with a new generation of immunity-dodging variants.

United Kingdom and some other European countries, are seeing the swift ascent of BQ.1 ( a descendant of BA5). In India, the BA.2.75 variant is on the rise. BA.2.3.20, is growing quickly in Singapore, and has turned up in Denmark and Australia. BQ.1.1 (a member of the BQ.1 family with one extra spike change) and BA.2.75.2 are the most immune evasive, being able to dodge most neutralizing antibodies elicited by infection with BA.5. That means your past infection will not protect you from being re infected.

BA.4.6, dubbed Aeterna by variant trackers on Twitter, is slowly but steadily climbing toward the top of the mountain of variants in the U.S. In early October 2022 it accounted for 14% of cases in the United States. It’s growth is exponential. Aeterna appears to have a nearly 6% growth advantage over BA.5, according to an Oct. 7 technical brief from the United Kingdom Health Security Agency.

I am sure your head is swimming with all the different variants which are competing to infect us. Those who have gotten vaccinated have some protection from severe disease and death but the anti vaccine folks are shit out of luck.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, predicts a coming wave of infections that will swell in October and peak in late December or early January. So far no single variant has become undeniable the most dominate. I would put my money on BA.4.6 to be knocking on your door this fall season.

Korean Military Fight Omicron

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North Korea is battling an explosive COVID-19 outbreak. Experts are raising concerns that the virus could devastate a country where few have been vaccinated against the disease, medical supplies are limited and the health system in a dilapidated state.

Dictator Kim Jong Un, ordered the army to get to work “on immediately stabilizing the supply of medicines in Pyongyang”, where officials said the Omicron BA.2 variant was confirmed in at least one death last week.

As of 6pm on May 16, 2022, five days after announcing the outbreak, North Korea had reported a total of 1.48 million cases of ‘fever’, It also announced a further six deaths. It is almost guaranteed that those numbers are but a fraction of the actual totals since the dictator can in his own mind do no wrong.

The North Korean dictator had been offered assistance from South Korea, China, and the World Health Organization (WHO) but all help has been refused. Kim, who considers himself a god like figure, thinks that he is the only one who can help his people. Rather than accept vaccines from abroad, he thinks his nation will find the best cure for COVID.

Kim has said the outbreak is causing “great turmoil” in the country and on Sunday visited pharmacies neat the capital’s Taedong river, state media KCNA reported.

Despite the public health crisis, new satellite imagery indicates North Korea has resumed construction at a long-dormant nuclear reactor and officials in Washington and Seoul have warned that Kim is preparing to conduct another nuclear test.

Analysts have warned Kim could speed up nuclear testing plans to distract the population from the outbreak.

A huge military parade in North Korea on April 25, 2022 was likely a superspreader event that quickly spread the virus through the county. Send in the tanks.

Lake Eola: Falun Dafa

Posted on by Thor

I have started working with a new student on location and it is an opportunity to get out of the studio and explore the world with my sketchbook again. We met near the red pagoda at Lake Eola.

I decided to keep masked even though we were outside. My reasoning is that I have no idea when a person might get curious about my sketch and stand close behind me, breaking down my neck. Pam always jokes about some woman resting her huge boobs on my shoulder as she watched me sketch one time. I discovered there is an added benefit to wearing the mask in that people tend to stay clear, perhaps thinking I might be infected.

For the two hour duration of this sketch, I only saw one other person wearing a mask. Lake Eola was packed since the farmers market was in full swing. It would seem Orlando is done with COVID-19 although the virus is not done with Orlando.

There were 59,430 new coronavirus cases recorded over the last two weeks among Florida residents, bringing the cumulative total close to 6 million. With 230 more fatalities on record, 74,060 Florida residents have died so far.  Deaths have been dropping with the new BA.2 variant of COVID but there are reports that long COVID is more common with the new variant. Positivity increased over the past two weeks from 6.1% to 9%. On the risk assessment map of the United States Florida ticked up from yellow to orange today. The state reports only show Florida resident cases and exclude non-residents cases, which are no longer available. The state works hard to promote ignorance. Local NPR reporter Nichole Darden Creston tested positive for COVID-19 this week. The last time I saw her, she handed me a travel pack of free tissues to promote WMFE.

Falun Dafa is an ancient, high-level Chinese cultivation practice which uses gentle movements and meditation to cultivate the body, mind, and spirit. None of the practitioners were masked. It consists of five simple exercises that can be performed by anyone, regardless of age, physical condition, infection status or prior experience. The practice is meant to relieve stress and create harmony, as it cleanses the mind and body, and focuses on increasing wisdom, morality, and promoting spiritual growth. Falun Dafa is guided by the characteristic of the universe: Truthfulness–Benevolence–Forbearance. The practice began in China which is now allowing citizens to stave to death in it’s zero COVID policy lock downs.

As people went through the movements, a sales person handed out pamphlets and offered free COVID shaped plastic flower sculptures. I was offered a flower but don’t really need one right now.

Prom Superspreaders

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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.

Spring Plant

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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.

Stealth Omicron Special Operation

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COVID-19 is re-grouping in the North East for a renewed campaign of it’s “Special Operation.” The so-called Stealth Omicron (BA.2) variant is now the dominant COVID-19 strain in the United States, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

American however have let their guard down and turned their back on the enemy allowing for a full unchecked frontal attack.

A Trump appointed Federal Judge in Florida blocked the CDC’s masking guidelines on airlines. The CDC itself re-evaluated it’s guidance for the maps that shows where outbreaks are occurring. On top of that people are no longer using COVID testing sites instead relying on less accurate at home tests. Americans will simply not see this next wave coming. America has again decided to remain blind in fighting an enemy that can not be seen.

The Biden White House requested 22.5 Billion dollars to fight COVID-19 but that was cut down to 10 Billion allowing for no intentional aid. As long as the virus is anywhere in the world, it is everywhere in the world. This is a simple idea that legislators do not seem to understand. Of course all this aid will come too   late as the BA.2 variant begins it’s exponential growth in America in the coming weeks.

Stealth Wave

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People don’t react to a wave they don’t see coming. In the North Eastern United States cases are once again beginning to rise this time because of the Stealth variant of Omicron called BA.2.

With 2 years of social distancing, masking, vaccination and hand washing you might think Americans would be ready to handle this next wave. However Americans are done with COVID-19. The vaccinated are done because the vaccines have indeed proven very effective at protecting against hospitalization and death. Getting the booster shot that is now being rolled out would also protect against infection the the upcoming months but not many are rushing out to get another booster.

With so many people now doing home tests instead of going to testing centers, it will be hard to see this new wave coming. I track hospitalizations as opposed of cases and thankfully they are relatively low after the huge spike in January of 2022. More Americans died from the Omicron that from the far more deadly Delta variant. Though less virulent, Omicron is so contagious that the incredible numbers of people infected still result in deaths.

England is experiencing the highest level of infections since the start of the pandemic and it is safe to say that America will experience a similar spike in the coming weeks. We are in the eye of the hurricane.

There’s no consensus among experts on exactly when waves begin or end, or how sharp or tall one must be to count. A wave will involve a sudden rise in cases form a baseline low. We are in that low right now. We are lucky in that cases are so low as BA.2 is taking over. With exponential growth the cases seem low for some time and then suddenly rise at alarming rates. No one can say for sure how alarming the next wave will be.

The fact is however that Americans have lifted most all restrictions and are going about life as normal as the tsunami wave quickly rushed towards the shore.

Don’t Tease the Tiger

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Dr. Gregory Poland, head of Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group made a clear analogy of where we stand todaaaaaay with the pandemic, he said, Americans are teasing the tiger by letting their guard down. BA.2 is 50 to 60% more transmissible that Omicron, which was which was 50% more transmissible than Delta, which was 50% more transmissible than Alpha. Despite this Americans are going about life feeling COVID-19 is behind them because they are tired of it. The virus doesn’t care about how tired people are, it is not done with us.

Those who reject vaccines and masks will likely face a horrible future. 1 out of every 328 Americans has died from COVID. Somehow Americans have normalized this. By pretending the pandemic is over people are not only teasing the tiger they are taunting it.

America is experiencing about 30,000 new COVID infections a day, about 18,000 in the hospitals across the US, and about 800 deaths a day. Americans seem to have normalized this level of death and infection. Everyone is out having spring parties and mass gatherings.

The story has played out many times before with a series of markers that hint that a new variant may cause a new surge in cases. That is where we are right now. We are in a quiet valley and are likely to experience another surge in the weeks ahead with BA.2. Only 65% of Americans have gotten 2 doses of vaccine, of those, less than half have gotten a booster. With BA.2 rising in America the advice remains the same, continue to wear an N95 mask indoors, and wear it over your mouth AND nose. Get fully immunized and boosted. A second booster is being made available for people over 50 years old and I plan to get that ASAP. BA.2 is coming.

25 Million People Shanghaied

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25 million people are being locked down in Shanghai in an attempt by China to maintain a zero COVID policy. The Huangpu River runs through the center of the city splitting it in half. Restrictions are happening on one side of the river and then the other side of the river. Earlier this week those living in Shanghai’s eastern half were told to stay home, with the western half due to enter a lockdown on April 1, 2022. This has been labeled the Yin Yang approach to locking down COVID.

The two-phase lockdown is China’s biggest coronavirus closure since the city of Wuhan — believed to be the origin of the pandemic — was shuttered two years ago. The effort to control the outbreak back then was undermined by politicians downplaying and denying the severity of the outbreak. Flights poured out of China as everyone traveled to celebrate the new year.

There are long lines outside supermarkets as residents empty store shelves. The BA.2 Omicron outbreak in Shanghai is pushing China’s zero COVID policy to it’s limits. The city has reported around 20,000 Covid-19 infections since March 1, 2022, registering more cases in four weeks than in the previous two years of the pandemic.

The BA.2 ‘Stealth’ variant of COVID is 30 times more infectious than the initial Omicron variant, making it as infectious as measles. BA.2 now represents nearly 86% of all sequenced cases, according to the World Health Organization. With this variant so infectious, basically everyone who hasn’t previously been infected or been vaccinated, will test positive.

Mass testing inn Shanghai is being dome of everyone being locked down. Those diagnosed with COVID have been sent to live in warehouses and exhibition halls converted into mass quarantine centers, even if they are asymptomatic, and some have complained about the basic living conditions, with there being no showers. The vaccines being used by China have been rated less effective that the MRNA Vaccines being used by Western countries.

Of course China invited the world’s athletes into the country for the Winter Olympics in February of this year but they felt they could control the virus from spreading.  Like most politicians, talking heads, and everyday dolts, they underestimated the virus.

COVID Memorial

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Wars Ranked by American Combat Deaths…

  • World War II 291,557
  • American Civil War 214, 938
  • World War I 53,402
  • Vietnam War 47, 434
  • Korean War 33, 686
  • American Revolutionary War 8,000
  • Iraq War 4,424
  • War of 1812 2,260
  • War in Afghanistan 1833
  • Mexican-American War 1,733

That is a total of 659,267 American combat deaths.

Over 953,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and that number  continues to climb. The nation is mindlessly hurling itself towards over 1 million deaths. The true toll is likely far higher since many deaths due to COVID-19 were not counted. The American death rate has surpassed that of any other large, wealthy nation, especially during the recent Omicron surge. No one can accurately predict what the new BA.2 variant of Omicron will bring but it is not likely to be sunshine and daises.

Why were so many politicians focused on re-openings in January and February of 2022, the fourth and fifth deadliest months of the pandemic? Why did the CDC issue new guidelines that allowed most Americans to dispense with indoor masking when at least 1,000 people had been dying of COVID every day for almost six straight months? Quite simply people can not comprehend what they can not see. The virus is too small to be seen, and people die in isolation in hospitals with the burials happening quietly out of public view.

About 9 million Americans are grieving the loss of loved ones. An estimated 149,000 children have lost a parent or caregiver. Healing can only come when the tragedy has ended. The pandemic rages on with no end in sight. Americans have become numb and and seem to have learned to accept the inevitability of the virus death toll as it continues. Now the United States government has cut off funding for testing and treatment for COVID. Once the rich have their shots the funding stops. That leaves the country very vulnerable as BA.2 begins its inevitable march through the American population in the coming weeks.

Richard Keller wrote, “Like gun violence, overdose, extreme heat death, heart disease, and smoking, [COVID] becomes increasingly associated with behavioral choice and individual responsibility, and therefore increasingly invisible.” We don’t honor deaths that we ascribe to individual failings.”

As America nears 1 Million deaths due to COVID, there’s an effort led by a group called Marked By COVID to establish an enduring memorial to the pandemic. They are lobbying for a national COVID memorial day on the first Monday of March each year, as well as trying to build physical memorials in cities all over the country. Kristin Urquiza, the group’s co-founder, said “We will be able to teach our children, our grandchildren and future generations about this moment in time, about our pain, about what happens in a public health crisis, about what is lost and who is lost.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who recently tested positive for COVID-19, said the president supports memorializing lives lost to COVID, but right now the focus remains on fighting the pandemic and securing funding from Congress to be prepared for whatever comes next.