AND THE CRUISE GOES ON

Thursday has served as Covid day since the pandemic.  No more, but here is an update, for I keep knowing of people who are still getting infected.

• What to know about the FLiRT variants of Covid-19.
•  New variants are distant Omicron relatives from JN.1, which was responsible for the surge of cases this past winter.
• FLiRT because mutations include the letters F and L for one, and R and T for the other.
• KP.2 in particular is rising, now accounting for 25% of new cases at the end of April.  However, KP.2 is less infectious than JN.1.
• Current vaccines protect against FLiRT variants.
• Here is the latest summary:
• Total cases.
• #1  USA  112 million
• #2  India  45 million
• #3  France 40 million
• #4  Germany  39 million
• Total deaths.
• #1  USA 1,219,487
• #2  Brazil  711,380
• #3  India  533,570
• Of course, India significantly under reports.  One WHO report estimates that their death toll is 10 times higher than reported.
• 
  For political reasons, WHO tends to protect China.  Chances are overwhelming that the 5000 or so  deaths China has officially reported to Worldometer is much higher.  
• How much?  Certainly not 5,272.
• The Journal of American Medical Association reports of 1.87 million excess deaths occurred among individuals 30 and older during the first two months after the end of China's zero Covid policy.  Those deaths alone represent a factor of 17 more deaths in all of the U.S. since the pandemic began.

Changing subjects to the matter of abortion, the New York Times this morning reported:

• After the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, red states raced to restrict abortion, as Florida did yesterday with a new ban after six weeks of pregnancy. It was reasonable to expect the number of abortions in the U.S. to decline. Instead, it appears to have risen slightly. Why? One factor is pills prescribed online, which now make up one in six abortions.
• The dynamic encapsulates a broader trend: The combination of a relatively new technology (the web) and an old one (the mail) has made it easier for Americans to bypass laws that they don’t like.
• From other sources, Arizona lawmakers voted to repeal an 1864 law that imposed a near-total ban on abortions. Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, is expected to sign the bill today.

In other political news:

• Marjorie Taylor Greene said she would demand a vote next week to unseat Speaker Mike Johnson. Democrats have pledged to protect him.

• 
  In a special congressional election held in New York, Democratic Timothy Kennedy beat his Republican rival, which was expected, but not by 36 percentage points.
• The House today has a Republican margin of ONE vote.
• Politics confound.  No one predicted that Mike Johnson would survive as Speaker of the House because of Democratic support.

Finally, a 3-year old girl in North Carolina believed there was "a monster" behind the wall in her room near her closet.  Went on for eight months.  Turned out to be a hive of over 50,000 bees, weighing over 100 pounds.  Beekeeper Curtis Collins said the hive was twice the size of any other he's removed.  Ashley, the child, looks at Collins and said he's a monster hunter.

Back to our cruise.  Lunch.  Fish and chips and sashimi.  With sherry and beer.

Dessert.

Dinner of filet and cheeks.

Cheese.  Red wine and sherry.

Then off to the Commodore Lounge.

Ended the evening in the Queens Room with Big Band sounds.  A very old couple, he in a wheelchair, also danced.

This ship is so long that just walking from venue to venue took me 7675 steps today.

Yesterday was May Day, which is lei day, in Hawaii.

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