State of Emergency

Posted on by Thor

New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) declared a state of emergency to prepare for a new coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa. Her declaration on November 26, 2021 is one of the first emergency steps taken by a state in the U.S. against the new variant, known as Omicron, whose discovery was announced November 25, 2021.

“We continue to see warning signs of spikes in COVID-19 this winter, and while the new Omicron variant has yet to be detected in New York State, it’s coming,” Hochul said in a tweet.

The executive order, in effect until at least Jan. 15, 2022 allows nonessential procedures to be postponed in hospitals in order to increase hospital capacity. This is one of the few examples of a politician acting proactively rather than re-actively to the pandemic.

President Joe Biden has already restricted travel from several countries in southern Africa in order to mitigate the spread of Omicron. However those travel restrictions do not come into effect until November 28, 2021. That allows hundreds or thousands of passengers to fly into the United States before the restrictions take effect.The president also issued a proclamation that people entering the United States must be vaccinated. However there is a huge loophole. The proclamation only apples to US citizens returning to the states.

Two flights out of South Africa to Amsterdam landed with 60 passengers infected with COVID-19. It has not yet been established how many of those were the Omicron strain. Had those same passengers landed in Orlando International airport, they would already be in Disney World busy infecting others. In Johannesburg, South Africa, holiday travelers rushed back to the airport and stood in long lines to fly back home from vacations before the ban came into effect.

Despite the bans, the new variant has already been found in at least a dozen countries. Most of the cases detected have been in travelers returning from the region.

5 States: 44% of Cases

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CNN reported that five states account for 44% of the COVID-19 cases in the past week according to data from Johns Hopkins University. New York, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey had more than 196,400 of the country’s 453,360 cases reported in the last week, according to data available the morning of April 7. 2021.

Michigan has been hit especially hard with 6,600 cases a day over a week as opposed to 1,350 daily cases five weeks ago. The highly contagious and deadly B.1.1.7 variant of the COVID virus has helped cause the spike in cases. People are also experiencing pandemic fatigue and are taking fewer precautions giving the virus plenty of opportunity to spread.

The B.1.1.7, first identified in the UK, is now the most common strain of coronavirus in the United States, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said April 7, 2021.

With more-transmissible variants adding up, surges like Michigan’s may soon be seen more widely, even though vaccination rates have increased nationally, epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm said. The CDC says more than 16,200 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant have been confirmed in surveillance testing in the US, and B.1.1.7 has been found in every state. This number does not represent the total number of such cases circulating in the United States, but rather only those found by analyzing samples. Florida has more that 3000 confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, more than any other state.

The US has averaged 774 Covid-19 deaths a day over the last week. According to the latest CDC data, 19.4% of the total US population was fully vaccinated as of the morning of April 7, 2021; and 57.4% of people age 65 and older are fully vaccinated. But the US has a long way to go before reaching herd immunity. Dr. Anthony Fauci has estimated 70%-85% of the population needs to become immune.

Virtual Ball Drop

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Times Square is empty on New Years Eve. As the number of coronavirus cases continues to climb across the country, event organizers will host a virtual ball-dropping celebration.

Police   have set up a perimeter around Times Square to keep spectators out. Garbage trucks and buses are parked at intersections to keep vehicular traffic out. There will be no public spectator viewing areas. Even people in local hotels are being told to stay inside.

The event will be broadcast online. The ball will be raised at approximately 6 p.m. to the top of One Times Square. There will be musical performances by Andra Day, Gloria Gaynor, Jimmie Allen, Machine Gun Kelly, the USO Show Troupe and more. Additionally, first responders, front-line and essential workers will be celebrated as special guests and heroes of 2020. They will be some of the privileged few to celebrate the new year from Times Square.

Mayor Bill de Blasio will press the button to send the Waterford Crystal ball on its one minute descent and finally the horror of 2020 will come to an end. Last year when the ball dropped, the first case of COVID-19 were just being reported.

The New Year’s Eve ball has dropped every year since 1907, except in 1942 and 1943, when the dropping was suspended because of the city black-out during World War II.Even then people gathered in the dark to celebrate. COVID-19 has created a much greater black out on social gatherings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging people to stay home and celebrate virtually with friends and family. The COVID-19 death toll is projected to be as high as 419,000 by mid-January.

In the East Village of NYC.

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I was asked to teach an Urban Sketching Workshop in NYC. The hotel was located in the East Village which has changed quite a bit since I lived in NYC close to 25 years ago. Hip new bars and eateries proliferate the neighborhood. When I got to this street corner of Clinton and Houston the age old feeling of the city returned. I took the time to sit on a bench in the middle of the intersection and sketch the neighborhood. I  imagined myself living in that cylinder shaped corner tower on the corner on the top floor. From there I could see the bustling city life as I painted in the studio.

I went to college in the city and wish I had the patience and perseverance to sketch the scene as I can today. A homeless man on the far corner to my left was begging the entire time I sketches. His mantra for a dime became the soundtrack for the scene as I worked. It was a rather crisp day which I am not used to, so I had to put on my gloves to keep sketching. Direct sunlight helped when it struck  my hands.

The sketch workshop went well. We did quick studies while e were gathered in a dance studio which had mirrors on the walls. Mirrored walls are perfect for showing where a vanishing point is in a scene. For the second part of the workshop, we went to Grand Central Station. I wanted my crew of artists to see the main floor from the second level. We walked up the steps and overlooked the expanse. The amazing this is that the second floor of Grand Central Station is now exclusively an Apple Store. Phones and iPads were everywhere. The store staff didn’t seem to mind us leaning against the marble railings and sketching. After sketching at Grand Central, we all went to a German pub for drinks and to share sketches. The New York City Urban Sketching community is vibrant and exciting. I kind of miss being in the city that never sleeps.

Joanna Solomon shares how her love life and career came Hurtling Towards Earth.

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In her solo show, Hurtling Towards Earth, Joanna Solomon from Brooklyn NY, recounted her years as an aerialist in the Argentine production of De La Guardia along with her equally harrowing love stories at this year’s Orlando International Fringe Festival. Auditioning for the role was extremely stressful. She felt like every other dancer and acrobat did the required moves with ease. When she confided that she might be out of her league, another actress told her, “Just fake it like the rest of us. She was amazed and delighted when she got the call back and ultimately the roll.

A small diary sat on a stool on stage. Periodically Joanna would refer to it to find letters that she had written her mom. Her close bond to her mom seems to have kept her sane during the long time she was away.  Joanna also had a boyfriend back home yet none of the letters she read were to him. Once she read a letter, she would clamp it on to a clothes line hanging in the corner of the stage.

She confided that she isn’t the type of person to have an affair but an Argentinian man worked closely with her in the show. While she was suspended from a rope, he would swing her into a canvas wall, softly at first and then harder while making guttural noises. They resisted the urge for the longest time but then had an intense passionate affair. The Argentinians girlfriend of her Argentinian lover came to a wrap party. Joanne had a little too much to drink and when she went into the women’s room, her lover followed her and pleaded his love for her. His girlfriend found them together and she began beating on Joanne who felt she deserved every blow.

Her boyfriend back home hacked into her Facebook account and he found plenty of evidence of her affair. She later found out that he had also had an affair while she was gone but it didn’t help in healing the lost trust. She never said if she tried to get back together with either boyfriend, but I suspect they all probably went their separate ways. At the end of the show Joanne showed a movie clip of one of her aerialist performances. With so many unanswered questions I didn’t fell like the show was over.