History Center 150th Anniversary Exhibit

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The Orange County Regional History Center is in the process of mounting an exhibition to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding or Orlando. The exhibition will have 150 items from the museum’s collections on display.

Katie Kelly the curator of exhibitions gave the power point presentation. She emphasized often that the collection is built from many donations from people who realized that their collections have historical significance.

Katie explained that museum exhibits are usually designed to tell a story, and items are collected to help tell that story. This exhibit was turned on it’s head since the 150 items that will go on display were chosen before a story was established. The exhibition will not be a chronological history of Orlando. It is instead a collection of 150 objects that were curated by high ranking members of the community. Mayor Buddy Dyer and Mayor Jerry Demings both selected items for exhibit. Over all about 150 members of the community got invitations to curate items for the exhibit. The logistics of that process alone must have been daunting.

The exhibition will open on April 12, 2025 and run through  January 11, 2026. Orlando Collected will  offer a glimpse into some of the most fascinating and rarely seen items from the city’s history. Since its incorporation in 1875 with just 85 residents, Orlando grew into a vibrant and diverse community of over 300,000. Through the contributions of local historians, community organizations, and individuals, the complex stories of the community have been thoughtfully collected and preserved by the History Center. These curated memories, photographs, documents, and artifacts weave the intricate tapestry of Orlando’s past.

After Pulse: Carlos Guillermo-Smith

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Carlos Guillermo-Smith represents East Orlando House District 49 in the Florida House of Representatives. He was elected in November of 2016. He is Florida’s first openly gay Latin X lawmaker.

When Pulse happened he was a declared candidate for the Florida House. On the evening of June 11, 2016 he was at a Union Conference at the Double tree Hotel near Universal Studios. After the conference he went home.

Carlos found out about the shooting on his phone. He got a series of push notifications. He woke up a 5:30Am and those messages were the first thing he saw. Two messages stood out in particular. One was a CNN push alert, and another was from WFTV Channel 9. The CNN notification announced reports of a mass shooting in an Orlando night Club. He sat bold upright in bed and tried to process.

He then went on Facebook, and he turned on the TV to see CNN which had limited reports. Helicopters hovered over the club. Other than what he saw, he didn’t have any facts. People began to mark themselves safe on Facebook. He got text messages asking if he was OK. He got a blanket e-mail from the CEO of Equality Florida making sure everyone was alive. Everyone needed to confirm. He decided the easiest way to check to see if his friends were OK, was to look at each Facebook profile at a time to see if they had marked themselves as safe. For others he fired off texts. Anyone could have been there that he knew. That morning, Terry DeCarlo was the first person he recognized on TV.

When they announced that 20 people were deceased, panic started to set in. When Mayor Buddy Dyer went on TV and announced that actually 50 people were deceased, Carlos sat speechless. He didn’t know what to feel. He bean to think, “What next?” This was his community, he needed to get in gear. The need to emotionally process was overwhelmed by the need to act. Next pp was an 8Am conference call with Equality Florida. They agreed  to deploy and find out what the needs were. There were 5 Orlando staff. One of things they agreed needed to be done right away was to create a Go Fund Me page to raise money for people impacted. Ida Eskamani figured out how to launch the Go Fund Me. That Go Fund Me page raised 9.5 million dollars.

What do people know about Orlando other than the theme parks? We needed to show that Orlando was not a broken community or a hateful community, we are an inclusive and caring community. He made his way to the Center. It was packed. There were too many cooks inn the kitchen. He felt he wasn’t needed there so he made his way to a press conference of Muslim and LGBTQ leaders. At this press conference he spoke with Pastor Joel Hunter who leads the largest evangelical church in Central Florida. They shook hands and an APP photographer snapped a photo. In “Christian America” a large publication the pastor said he was embarrassed that this hand shake as the first time he had met Carlos. He felt he wasn’t doing any outreach to the LGBTQ community. He said, “Evangelicals must repent on LGBTQ oppression.

Next was a 5PM press conference at the Center.  This was to be the LGBTQ communities press conference. Every LGBTQ leader as there. This was their official response to the tragedy. It was so hot in the Center. There were so many bodies. The press were not local. It was international media. This was also when he first saw some of his closest friends. When you see familiar faces after such horror, that is when you start to process what is happening. Christopher Hanson, a survivor of the shooting walked up to Carlos and hugged him. They are now friends.

That night there was a faith service and Carlos offered a few words. By this time things were n overdrive with phone calls and text messages. His campaign staff helped manage it. The rest of the day was a blur. Weeks and even months later he began processing the news coverage. The next day was the first vigil for the 49. The day was a bur of media phone calls up until the vigil  at Dr. Phillips. Carlos was on the program. He went feeling unprepared. He peered around the stage, he saw the crowd and was stunned. He had prepared his remarks to be bi-lingual. He was nervous about what he needed to say in Spanish. He wanted to get it right. It turned out he was one of the few who spoke Spanish in the program.

Last minute changes happened. He realized there wasn’t much Muslim representation among the speakers. A friend of his, Rasha Mubarak, was Muslim and had a long history of involvement with the LGBTQ community. He found her nearby, and asked her if she could speak at a moments notice. She thought and said, “OK.” No pressure. He decided it was better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. After his remarks he would be with Nancy Rosado reading the names of the 49 victims. It was the first time the 49 names were read in a public space.  The Segway between his remarks and the reading of the names, he squeezed Rasha in. Her shared remarks form the Muslim and Islamic community and shared in the responsibility of reading the 49 names.

Reverend Kathy Schmitz: After Pulse

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Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse Nightclub Massacre on June 12, 2016. It may contain sensitive and difficult to read content. Post written with narrator’s consent.  

Reverend Kathy Schmitz is from the First Unitarian Church. The church provided grief counseling for many first responders after the Pulse Nightclub Massacre.

On June 11, 2016 an intern at the church as doing the last service. When Kathy got out of bed she felt relaxed and she checked the headlines. She saw that there had been a shooting on Orange Avenue. She did not know Pulse at the time. She thought, maybe this was a drug deal gone wrong. She didn’t know the scale of what had happened.

At 7:45, the intern called and mentioned the headlines. They decided that the intern would start the service and then have the children’s story early which wold open up the service to just the adults. Details were still scarce. The first details about the scale of the event didn’t come out until 10AM and the service was at 11AM. People stated showing up for service early. She monitored things from the back row while the intern gave her sermon.

Logan Donahue is a member of the church and he arranged to connect Kathy with the Center’s director Terry DeCarlo. The blood mobile just happened to be at the church that morning. She called the hospital to see if they needed chaplains but they were covered. Just after 11AM Dr. David Hargove asked if the church could provide space for counseling for a couple of days. The church has six classrooms which could be used. Counseling began at 1PM that day. Dr. Hargrove had 600 licensed therapist volunteers on his list. The rooms were constantly staffed. In some ways it was just as important for the counselors to be there. They helped each other in coming to terms with what they would have to deal with inn the coming weeks.

Donations began to pile up at the church. Food was donated to the coalition of the homeless. The Tom Brady campaign was looking for space, Equality Florida ended up using the library as a community organizing space. The church staff stepped up to the plate to make it all work. On the first night they were warned against having vigils because there were safety issue. In the library people were gathered trying to arrange a vigil for Monday June 13, 2016. The city was saying, ‘Don’t do it.’ Someone dialed the Mayor Buddy Dyer at 11PM. They left a message saying ‘There is going to be a vigil, we need to find a way to make it work.’ The next morning the mayors office called with multiple people on the line and they said, ‘OK we here that there has to be a vigil but give us an hour to find a location.’ The location was changed from the Lake Eola Bandshell to the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

Then the media began it’s barrage of interview requests. About 20 church staff and volunteers went to the Dr. Phillips Center to help set up  for the vigil. She was involved with the vigil. She spoke prior to the tolling of the bells. The bells were on a timer. The program was running behind. There was a rush to get her on stage but then they found out the bells had been reprogrammed. It was hot. She wasn’t certain exactly when the bells would ring so she had to time what she said. Improv classes she had takes at SAK helped keep her on track. She asked all gathered to take a moment to reflect prior to the ringing. She felt responsible for holding the space for 7000 people. The ringing of those bells for about 8 minutes was the most intense moment of her life.

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.

# Orlando Morons

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City officials seemed to think that promoting a huge Halloween gathering in downtown Orlando would be a good idea. The idea was to cordon off downtown streets and to promote open carry of drinks so that people did not gather inside crowded bars. It would be best to get drunk in the gutter. The area was bound by Garland Avenue on the west side, Church Street on the south, Magnolia Avenue on the east and Washington Street to the north. Orange Avenue became a congested and shoulder to shoulder mass of people, many whom did not wear masks.

An outdoor stage was even set up in a parking lot by a promoter called Vanguard and they seemed to think they could could hold this concert safely. Each ticket holder was given a mask and face-shield for the price of the ticket. The crowd waiting to enter the The Boo! Orlando 2020 stage could be at the epicenter of this super spreader event. Also, what zombies gathered at the edge of the fenced off parking lot, crowding close to listen? Boo indeed.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings sent out compliance teams to the bars downtown hoping to promote social distancing and safety. Free PPE was handed out to bar owners before the festivities but it was a drop in the bucket when thousands showed up with no masks that night.

Mayor Buddy Dyer said, “The pilot program to help alleviate the expected big crowds in downtown Orlando on Halloween night didn’t work. Instead, thousands of costumed crowds packed the downtown area in the midst of an ongoing pandemic. A lot of people were out there without masks, without social distancing so I am concerned whether there was some spread of COVID-19 Saturday night downtown.”

The CDC advised against drinking alcohol or taking drugs Halloween night since they can cloud judgement and increase risky behaviors. They also advised against attending crowded costume parties. Bar owners and promoters must have done very well Halloween night, but they have blood on their hands as do any city officials who thought this was a good idea.

The downtown Halloween event was an undeniable disaster and most certainly was a super spreader event. Thousands of plastic cups littered the streets the day after and the puke had to be sprayed off the pavement. Downtown was a dump, and now the virus can spread throughout the community. Orange County reported 4,651 new cases of COVID-19 on November 2, 2020 for a total of 46,985 cases and 560 deaths. Expect those numbers to spike in the next 14 days. The horror… the horror.

Theaters Shuttered

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Local Theaters have been devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Wade Hair the owner and artistic director of Breakthrough Theater (419 West Fairbanks Ave, Winter Park FL), announced via Facebook Live that they would not be reopening the theater due to complications brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The theater has been closed since March 13, 2020 and if they could open, they could only have 10 people per audience since the theater is so small. The theater had been in operation for 11 years. It was a magnificent mom and pop community theater that I loved. Friends and patrons have helped pay the bills up until now but with the Covid-19 case numbers rising, the theater owners just cant see themselves re-opening any time soon. They will have to leave the building by June 30, 2020.

Moonlight Players Theater (735 W Minneola Ave, Clermont, FL) is also closing. The Theaters 26th season closed with the pandemic closing much of the county and suspending all local theatre activity. Due to the timing of the pandemic-related closures, they had to make this bittersweet announcement that they will be vacating the Warehouse Theater home in historic downtown Clermont. They are having a closing sale June 20, 10:30am to 6:30pm. People are invited to fill up a bag or a box starting at $10. Many chairs and furniture pieces available as well. Only 10 people at a time will be allowed in the building, please wear a mask.

The New York Ballet has canceled its 2020 production of Nutcracker.  This will be the first time the company hasn’t presented the classic since the production premiered in 1954. The show is New York City Ballet’s most lucrative production, earning more than $15.3 million in ticket sales. Performed around 47 times each holiday season, The Nutcracker employed more than 150 dancers and musicians from the company, 40 stagehands, and more than 125 students from the School of American Ballet.

Again in NYC, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center canceled Fall performances. New York City has done an amazing job recovering from the huge spike in cases and has begin a phase opening watching the data closely. Here in Florida there has been a huge spike in new cases of Covid-19 over the past week. The number of cases has risen 254% since the state re-opened. Florida reported another 3,822 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday morning, breaking the one-day record of 3,207 set just 24 hours earlier.

The UK Government is going to issue a report on June 22, 2020. Andrew Loyd Webber  saw a preliminary report with government advice which included, musicals might return but without singing to stop the spread of the virus. He went on to say, “We in theater must be positive and use everything we can to demonstrate that we can open. If having done that we fail, at least we tried.”

AMC Movie Theaters announced a plan to re-open on July 15, 2020. AMC  reported that it lost more than $2 billion in the most recent quarter, when the pandemic essentially stopped theater going. Face masks will be required. AMC plans on opening 450 or so of its U.S. theaters on July 15, while all 600 should be open by July 24 in time for Disney’s Live Action Mulan and Warner Brothers’ Tenet. Now I worked on the original animated version of Mulan so I am very curious to see it. The opening of the live action remake was put off due to the pandemic but I can wait until it is available somewhere other than a crowded theater.

Orange County Mayor, Jerry Demings and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer have required residents to wear a mask in public places. Orange County is currently reporting the largest increase in positive cases since the pandemic began. We are seeing a significant rise in positive cases among those 20-40 years of age. We continue to see cases where those infected do not show any symptoms of having the virus. Because of this, we cannot be certain those around us have not been exposed. Each of us, no matter our age or how healthy we may be, must remain diligent in our fight against this pandemic.

Everyone must practice physical distancing and good personal hygiene. We must get tested for COVID-19 if we’re concerned we’ve been exposed.  We must continue to protect one another through simple, selfless actions.

COVID-19 is persists in Orlando. Remind every person in our community that our work to combat this virus is not done. Florida is showing signs of becoming the next epicenter of the Covid-19 virus outbreak.

Pulse: Don Price

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Don Price was the sexton at Greenwood Cemetery at the time of the Pulse Nightclub massacre. He got a call from the mayors office the weekend of the shooting. He had been out at the beach watching a Space X launch. He returned to met with the mayors office. The mayor wanted to know if Greenwood could handle the 50 burials. The mayor also wanted to see the area of the cemetery that could accommodate the families on about Sunday afternoon. It was announced that the families would not have any cost of burial at Greenwood. People thought that meant the burials were free, but there were costs. Several anonymous law firms underwrote the burials paying families for the plots. 50 spaces were set aside. The section that was set aside had just opened up two months earlier, so it was easy to send the mayor photos and plot maps since it was just surveyed.

The cemetery worked with the state. The cemetery map became a war board. Funeral homes had to be called each day and reports sent to the state. The cemetery kept track of every funeral and service. Men’s dress suits and flowers were donated to families. Almost 21 victims were buried in Puerto Rico.  It is possible some of them will return to Greenwood because of hurricane Maria. Families have been displaced and families may want their loved ones back in America. These were 21 year old kids. We ended up burying 4 in Greenwood. Others were buried in, Tampa, Texas and North Carolina.

He met with families that did not understand everything going on.  They didn’t live in Orlando and suddenly they had to decided if they should bury their loved one at Greenwood or back to Puerto Rico. He had to give each family their options and let them decide. Services started Saturday. It was the first time the cemetery had multiple holes open at once. Tents were put up and families were kept separate from the holes. It was chaos.

People who come in the cemetery want to know where the Pulse section is even today. There are 49 bricks set aside for a memorial at the cemetery but that project was put on hold because so much is going on.  It will be put up with no fan fare.

They went out dancing on Saturday night, and Sunday morning they were gone. Half of them were out of the state by Wednesday. Some parents would not recognize the sexuality of their children. One victim was not even picked up. Greenwood had to work on trying to get him picked up. Finally, next of kin made the arrangements.

The burial site for the Pulse victims is right next to Anderson Road. Mayor Buddy Dyer didn’t want to put the burial site on display, but he didn’t want to hide this part of history. From the site you can see the lake, and downtown Orlando. But there were threats of protesting. A 10 foot chain link fence was erected down Anderson and black construction mesh was added so families with a service would not feel like they were on display. Commissioner Patty Sheehan helped Don find American flags and rainbow flags so the families didn’t have to look at the black mesh. It gave them some color. A parade permit was pulled so they could close down the third lane on Anderson and shut down the wetlands park. So if protestors showed up they could be arrested. Luckily there were no protestors.

As a cemetery they have a right to control any still or video images shot on property. News crews could shoot between funerals but not during any funerals. No burials were filmed. Don had a police officer with him to be sure media respected families privacy. Everyone was watching.

Orlando has become a more open and accepting community. Greenwood was open to all races since day one, but if you go to Winter Garden,  Winter Park or Ocoee, there is a white cemetery and a black cemetery. Everyone in Orlando was affected by this tragedy. It was an attack against our entire community. It tied us together. Don stayed away from any of the memorials after the shooting. As he said, “When it comes to a memorial, the last thing you want is for the undertaker to be standing there.”

Florida Restaurants Re-Open

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had issued an order allowing restaurants to re-open in Florida. Phase one of the re-opening plan allows restaurants and retail stores to reopen Monday, May 4, 2020.

Restaurants will be able to use outdoor seating if they have a permit. Inside, they’ll be able
in the first phase of the state’s plan to use just 25% of their seating
capacity.  Violation of 25% capacity limits and
other restrictions remain a second-degree misdemeanor with a fine up to
$500. Regulated businesses may face enforcement action for violations
from their regulatory agency.

A statewide shelter-in-place order expires Thursday May 30, 2020, but DeSantis says
people should continue to practice social distancing and not socialize
in groups larger than 10. He’s also asked those who are medically
vulnerable and the elderly to remain at home as much as possible. Officials said the 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in Orange County will remain
through next week and then county leaders will reassess.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said, “We don’t want it to open too quickly without a plan in place.” “In order for people to have ample time to prepare to get their workers
back to work and get all the equipment they need, it takes some
planning,” He said.

AdventHealth’s Dr. Scott Brady brought a list of six guidelines he recommends for all businesses.

Those guidelines include:

  • Universal masking of all employees and guests
  • Continue keeping people six feet apart
  • Quickly sending symptomatic people for testing and treatment
  • Make sure employees practice aggressive hand hygiene
  • Sanitize work surfaces after contact with employees and guests
  • Temperature checks for all employees and guests

Many
of the business owners within the task force expressed concerns with
requiring businesses to give temperature checks to all customers too. Chuck Whitall, President of
Unicorp National Development, a title which clearly makes him a self proclaimed medical expert, said, “I don’t think it’s
practical to do this to customers,” Brady stood by his recommendations with a stern warning for the group. “Just
breathing with a fever spreads this virus,” Brady said. “There is more a
chance that this virus spreads and we have to shut everything down,
there is more of a chance than less of a chance. I just want to caution
you to be very, very careful.” 

Demings was not ready to give an exact date for reopening in
Orange County yet but, he noted that any plan
would need to include a phased approach. He said having the economy back
in its pre-Covid-19 swing by May 11, 2020 was not “very realistic.” “Our work isn’t over and while these plans will provide a path to
gradually and safely restart our economy, they must not lure us into
thinking that we’re going to go back into business as normal because the
virus is still going to be here and life is not normal,” Orlando Mayor
Buddy Dyer said. “The hard truth is that we are building a new normal
and it will be a different way of life for everyone and a different way
of doing things to keep us all safe.”

A new study of a Covid-19 outbreak tied to a restaurant in China is re-igniting questions about how far the novel Covid-19 could spread in the air and how airflow through ventilators or air conditioners, and the air quality itself, could play a role. 
The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention have long maintained that the virus is spread primarily
through droplets in person-to-person contact and in some cases from
contaminated surfaces, and rarely travels more than
six feet in the air. However, the recent study, conducted by the Guangzhou Center for Disease
Control, suggests that the virus not only passes through
person-to-person spread at close range, but can travel farther with help
from air currents blowing from ventilation systems. The study concluded that crowded gatherings and “poor ventilation” with little
outside air brought into the room created an isolated loop, allowing
virus particles to be transferred from table to table.

A map of the restaurant showed how one infected individual infected 9 others. An air conditioner and exhaust fan were the sources of circulation in the room. The main point is that the virus can travel much further than 6 feet. The conclusions are worrisome and worthy of further investigation as
American restaurants and other buildings look to re-open their doors. The data suggests that it’s crowded, poorly ventilated places where there have been outbreaks. The Covid-19 is “not behaving like an airborne virus, but that
doesn’t rule out the possibility of airborne transmission in certain
circumstances,” Dr. Todd Ellerin, the director of infectious diseases at South Shore Health in Massachusetts said.

A small sandwich shop owner in Windermere said on Twitter,  “Not sure about you, but we are over this.” The owner said she will re-open on May 1, 2020 despite orders from the county and state. In a tik tok video the owner mocked the Covid-19 virus by feigning to cough outside the establishment. Seeing a restaurant owner mocking public health is NOT appetizing. There was a huge backlash of people complaining about her disregard for public safely and the offending posts by the restaurant owner were removed. The owner claimed her life had been threatened but she did not report the offenses to police. The place did not open on May 1, but will open on May 4 when the DeSantis First Phase kicks in. I don’t expect any honest attempts at maintaining public safety from this place. I will never dine there.

#StayHome

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As County Mayor Jerry Demings and City Mayor Buddy Dyer were giving a Covid-19 pandemic briefing inside the County Administration Building, an itty bitty crowd of protestors assembled outside. Protestors were demanding that the state re-open in the midst of the pandemic.  Jerry Demings said “In my humble opinion, it’s much of a circus. Perhaps one person has
the right to risk their health and safety, but they don’t have the right
to endanger the health and safety of others in the community. I
wouldn’t want to play Russian roulette with myself like that.” 

Buddy Dyer said, “So, there are some people that don’t accept science or facts, and I
suspect that’s a bunch of them that are out front. What I’d probably do
is suggest they speak to family members of someone who has died of
COVID-19. Maybe that would wake them up a little bit.”

Facebook has begun closing down some sites that promote the anti say
at home protests. They will not close every site. The protests run afoul
of the states’ social distancing guidelines, Facebook spokesman Andy
Stone said. The problem is that the POTUS himself who in a series of
tweets on Friday appeared to condone people
disobeying rules intended to blunt Covid-19, many based on his
own recommendations.
People are justifiably on edge, with unemployment souring and the
promise of the next meal on the table is uncertain. Strange conspiracy
theories flicker to life in this wasteland of despair. 

As far as reopening the state’s economy, Gov. Blue Glove (DeSantis) has faced criticism for suggesting that schools could soon reopen. On Monday April 20, 2020, just 18 days into his 30 day stay at home order, he unveiled his Re-Open Florida Task Force, a 22-person panel
that has until Friday to come up with recommendations for cracking open
the state’s economy more than a month after it started to seize up. Gov. Blue Gloves instinct is to open the state quickly.

He announced that beaches were permitted to reopen Friday April, 17, 2020, if they
could do so safely; by early evening, some beaches in north Florida had
removed police barriers, allowing residents to stroll and surf. Photos of huge crowds on Jacksonville beaches triggered the well deserved hashtag #FloridaMorons. “No chairs, coolers, sunbathing, or towels/blankets laid out to sit on,”
read a tweet from the city of Jacksonville’s official account. Florida’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic was and continues to be haphazard. He only closed the beaches when images of spring breakers partying in large crowds garnered headlines.

Cumulative cases of Covid-19 have been rising steadily in Florida. Daily deaths from COVID-19 also showed a glimmer of hope in the past
several days in Florida, according to FDOH’s provisional data. Daily
deaths in the state from the new virus peaked at 43 deaths on April 6,
but dipped to 14 deaths on April 18.

Some modelling of the disease shows signs of hope, as well. The
University of Washington model, relied on by the White House at the
beginning of the outbreak, this week lowered its prediction
to 1,363 deaths in Florida from the virus by Aug. 4, down from an April
4 run of the model that had predicted 6,770 deaths in Florida through
the Aug. 4 “first wave,” with a high estimate of 11,242 deaths and a low
estimate of 3,629 deaths in the state. However low case numbers result from inconsistent and or insufficient testing.

As of April 21. 2020 the number of Covid-19 cases topped 27,000 with 823 deaths in Florida.

“Not Practical to Lock Down State”

Posted on by Thor

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held a press conference from his office in Tallahassee, Florida. New York State issued a shelter in place order, but he feels that a Shelter in Place order for Florida would not be advisable or practical. He claims it would be a very blunt instrument. He is afraid of hundreds of thousands of Floridians loosing their jobs. My feeling is that everyone should be more concerned about loosing their lives.

DeSantis seems to feel that this virus is not something that is affecting every part of the state. He outlined some counties that have low cases of Covid-19 but the fact is, that without testing, no one knows how many cases are out there. He feels that a massive shutdown of the entire state would not work. The issue of non-compliance is a concern. He sees instances of people in NYC and California being non-complaint and thus he seems to think Floridians are incapable of practicing self isolation. He sees it as impractical for a State Governor to enforce a shelter in place order.

Like President Trump, he seemed concerned more about people’s mental health and suicide rates if they have to isolate to stay safe and alive. As Donald Trump said on Twitter, “We can not make the cure worse than the problem”. Or restated, “The benefit of keeping people alive is not worth the cost to the economy.” The problem however is a viral death rate with unimaginable numbers if the problem is ignored. This can not be overlooked. The skewed thinking on this issue amazes me. There is no option to go back to life as normal after 14 days. The United Kingdom ordered a country wide lock down for 3 weeks, which seems like a more sane approach to try and stop the spread of the virus. However, here in America, the President seems intent on ignoring science and getting the economy back up at any cost. His medical advisor, Dr. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was absent at a White House press briefing today. He has been the one voice of reason on how to stop the spread of the virus but his blunt comments are rumored to have rubbed the president the wrong way since science doesn’t line up with the president’s lies.

DeSantis seems to follow the president’s mantra.  DeSantis said he will work with all the metro areas, but decisions about public health have to come from Municipal and County Governance. So the president passed the buck to state governors, and this state governor passed the buck to city mayors. Any benefit of a lock down might be overwhelmed by people coming to Florida. On the day of his address there were 190 direct flights from the New York area to Florida. Those people may be fleeing a shelter in place order issued in that state. Given the situation in New York, it is very possible that there is someone on every flight who has the Covid-19 virus. The Federal Government is doing nothing to restrict domestic flights. DeSantis insisted that anyone coming from New York or a similar hot spot must do a mandatory self isolation.

The bottom line is that Ron DeSantis feels it is impractical to lock down a state with no end in sight.

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Local county and city officials in Central Florida were waiting for Governor DeSantis to issue
some kind of shelter in place order, and when they realized it was not
coming, they decided to protect their citizens with their own orders
and proclamations. Orlando City Mayor Buddy Dyer along with County Mayor Jerry Demings and the leaders from the municipalities in Orange
County have instated a “Stay at Home” order for all residents, and
all non-essential businesses will be closed, which includes most
retail, recreation, and entertainment businesses, starting this Thursday
March 26, 2020, at 11 p.m., and
continuing for two weeks through April 9, 2020.

“This means you should stay at home, unless it is
absolutely needed – like shopping at the grocery store, going to a
doctor’s appointment, providing necessary care for a family member,
visiting a restaurant for a takeout order or going
outside to exercise, all while keeping six feet between you and
others.

You should not go to work unless you are providing essential services that are defined in

this order. Visits to family members or friends should be limited to
those who need medical or other essential assistance, such as ensuring
an adequate supply of food or medicine.

We know that this order will impact the
livelihood of residents, our local businesses and our region’s economy.
But the health of our community is our top priority and we must do
everything that we can to protect the lives of our family
members, friends and neighbors.

It is our goal that through aggressive action we
will help minimize how many people in our community are impacted by
this virus, and then how quickly residents and businesses can recover
emotionally and financially.”

This is a challenge unlike any we’ve seen before, but I know that Orlando is up to it.

Stay home, stay safe.