Ice Contagion

Posted on by Thor

An amateur recreational ice hockey game  played at an indoor ice rink in the Tampa Bay, Florida became an example of a super spreader event for COVID-19. The teams each had 11 players between the ages of 15 to 53. 14 players of the 22 players and one rink staff member became infected.

Ice hockey involves vigorous physical exertion accompanied by deep, heavy respiration, and during the game, players frequently move from the ice surface to the bench while still breathing heavily. In this game, hockey-specific face protection varied and included metal cages or plastic half-shields (covering the eyes and the upper part of the nose); some players do not wear face protection. Cloth face masks for disease control were NOT used in the locker rooms or during the game.

The high proportion of infected players on the index patient’s team might have resulted from additional exposures to the index patient in the locker room and on the player bench, where players sit close to one another. Not all players from the game sought testing, and asymptomatic infections were possibly not identified. There was only one spectator to the game and that person showed no symptoms and went untested. It is unknown how many people the players then went on to infect.

A super spreader event is when one person infects more than 5 people. This is happening more often that you might think. The fact that the United States has been so lax on contact tracing, means these types of spreader events often go unchecked. You have to look for something to find it.

 

The Sower

Posted on by Thor

Donald Trump held a rally in Sanford, Florida. Air Force 1 landed at the Sanford airport and bleachers and a makeshift stage were set up on the runway. Thousands of mask less fans showed up believing that Trumps claims of immunity would become their immunity to COVID-19.

A mask less Florida Governor Ron DeathSantis made his appearance giving high fives to screaming fans like he wan entering an NBA championship game. 25 yards later he wiped his nose with the hand everyone had slapped.

Trump plans to continue holding death rally’s across battleground states. His concern are his poling numbers not weather his voters will be alive come November 3, 2020. Trump threatened to go out into the audience and kiss every man and every beautiful women. First lady Melania Trump was last seen September 29, 2020 at the first presidential debate, mask less inn the audience. My guess is that Melania is still quarantining and Trump is horny as hell after all his steroid treatments.

People behind Trump were issued MAGA face masks so that the TV shot would show plenty of masks. But masks were not required for the thousands of other packed shoulder to shoulder around the makeshift stage. CNN Reporter Jim Acosta reported from the event having to shout over Rumpers shouting “CNN sucks!”  In his live shot Jim said, “You know what really sucks? Getting COVID-19.”

The Trump administration has decided that herd immunity is their new policy. Herds of sheep keep packing Trump Rallys.

Walkers Rush to Jacksonville Beach

Posted on by Thor

On April 1, 2020 Ron DeSantis issued a sat at home order which was to last 30 days. The order limits movement outside homes to providing or getting
essential services or carrying out essential activities and applies to
interaction with other people outside of residents’ homes. 17 days later he issued an order allowing Florida beaches to open. With the state experiencing 27,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry was the first to decide to open it’s beach prompting #FloridaMorons hashtags on Twitter. On the day DeSantis allowed municipalities to open their beaches, there were 1,400 new infections, in the state’s highest one-day jump yet. Curry seems to feel that by limiting gatherings to less than 50 people will keep the beaches safe. Jacksonville has the largest population of any city in Florida at 900,000 people. With 794 cases of COVID-19 and 14 deaths so far it has become a hot spot.

Other cites including Coco Beach are planning to open their beaches soon. Coco will allow locals to sunbathe and sit in chairs on beaches, as long as
people practice social distancing and don’t gather in groups of more
than five people.

Lake Worth Beach City Commissioner Omari Hardy weighed in on Twitter, “When a person
doesn’t believe in science, they do dumb things. When a person in power
doesn’t believe in science, they do dumb things that hurt the public.
This move is so dumb that I had to make sure it wasn’t fake news. You
guys, it isn’t fake news.”

According to DeSantis, “You look at how this disease is transmitted, it’s transmitted
overwhelmingly when you are in close, sustained contact with people,
usually in an indoor environment,” DeSantis said. “Going forward, we got
to be promoting people to get exercise, do it in a good way, to do it
in a safe way.” However recent research shows that the virus spreads much further then 6 feet and an ocean breeze is a perfect vehicle to allow the spread.

The Mayor of Miami Beach, Dan Gelber, said in a video statement, “I’m
sorry but we will just have to do without beach access for the near
future,” adding that it’s unlikely that Miami’s beaches will reopen
before early June. Miami-Dade County closed its beaches on March 19, after thousands gathered at the beach
for Spring Break. As of April 22, there are more than 10,000 confirmed
cases and more than 200 deaths of COVID-19 in Miami-Dade county.

Some from Orlando must have also flocked to Jacksonville, where hundreds crowded together in line and then rushed the beach when it opened at 5pm on April 17, since vehicles with surf boards strapped to the roof were seen leaving town. Social distancing seemed to be the last thing on anyone’s mind when the beach opened. Thousands of people were seen on the beach within 26 minutes of the beach opening. The decision to open beaches goes against Trump’s re-opening recommendations that cases should have declined for 14 days. 



As of today April 23, 2020 Florida has 28,576 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 927 deaths. 60 people died today from the virus.

#StayHome

Posted on by Thor

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.