Swift Superspreader

Posted on by Thor

A Taylor Swift album party became a superspreader event with over 100 attendees testing positive for COVID-19. The event was held December 10, 2021 in Sydney Australia. Sydney is on the epicenter of the largest outbreak of COVID-19 in the country since the start of the pandemic. December 31, 2021 the country saw over 21,000 new cases in a country which had previously done an amazing job of controlling the outbreak.

In a public health alert issued on December 16, 2021, the New South Wales (NSW) Ministry of Health said it had been notified of a “venue of concern” in Sydney connected to at least 97 confirmed cases of Covid-19.

The health ministry said that anyone who attended the “On Repeat: Taylor Swift Red Party” at the Metro Theatre from 9 p.m. local time on Friday Dec. 10 is considered a “close contact” of a positive Covid case and “must immediately get tested and isolate for 7 days.The event had more than 600 guests, according to the New South Wales Ministry of Health, but officials have only been able to contact those who checked in on-site using a QR code. The health ministry said it was likely that at least some of the cases identified were the omicron variant. NSW Health said it was also asking all household contacts of those at the event to get tested and self-isolate until a negative result is received by everyone in the household.

NSW Health reminded everyone of the importance of maintaining COVID-safe practices as transmission is occurring at social events during the festive period. “Everyone should remain vigilant when celebrating with family, friends and colleagues and should not attend any social functions if they have any symptoms.”  NSW Health said penalties for non-compliance with isolation, testing and quarantine rules have been increased from $1,000 for individuals to $5,000, with penalties for corporations rising from $5,000 to $10,000.

 

We spend our wedding anniversary in Eden Australia.

Posted on by Thor

Our wedding anniversary was on October 19th and we spent the day making domestic preparations. We found the town supermarket and got essentials like Cheerios and milk for breakfast. We picked up some pre baked barbeque as well for dinner that night. The Eagle Heights apartment  in Eden, Australia had a full kitchen along with a microwave, so we cooked our food in minutes. I sat on the couch and used my tablet to sketch Terry making plans for the next day. We planned to go out on a charter boat to finally see some whales up close.

We were both still jet lagged and the drive down from Sydney had taken all day, so we were exhausted. On social media, hundreds of people might wish you happy birthday, but wedding anniversary’s are quiet introspective mile stones. There was a TV and an assortment of movies but it was never turned on. The apartment had two bedrooms and we used them both. I fell asleep in seconds.

Eden is the place to go for whale watching.

Posted on by Thor

From Sydney Australia, Terry and I rented a car and drove south to Eden. It was a full days drive. Australia is deceptively large. We stayed at Eagle Heights (2 Yule Street, Eden NSW 2551, Australia) which is perched right on the edge of cliffs over looking the bay. From our little patio you could look out over the expanse of water. I love the twisted ways that trees grow when they are affected by salty winds. A gazebo offered a telescope in case whales were spotted. Terry becomes incredibly patient when wild life viewing. We never did spot whales from our cliff perch but we might have spotted blow spouts which are the fine mists created when whales exhale. The spouts were so far out that they might have just been sea mist.

At the foot of the hill there was a place where we ordered fish and chips for our first dinner. It was the best fish and chips I had ever tasted. Exhausted we immediately drifted off to sleep. I believe this sketch was done the next day, very early in the morning as the sun rose. Just beyond that fence is a steep drop to the bay. Waves crashed the rocks that had spilled into the water. We had come to Eden to see whales and come hell or high water we would find them. The town has a siren that fires off any time whales are spotted in the bay. It was a rare instance where we hoped to hear a siren blaze. From October 31 to November 2 this quaint fishing village is home to the annual Eden Whale Festival. The festival is celebrating its 19th year in 2015 and will combine art, street
theatre, film, music, exploration, seafood and local produce along with
good old fashioned festival fun. Terry and I missed the festival by a week, but it sounds like a good reason to go back. Our time was divided between bird watching, whale watching and the occasional sketch.