THE SEABOURN ODYSSEY HAS A COVID OUTBREAK

This is April 1 where I am. The following are not April Fool jokes:

Donald Trump got indicted.
Finland joins NATO, or at least will in a few days.
The Seabourn Odyssey has a COVID-19 outbreak.

You can read about the other two, but last night the ship's captain made a startling announcement. There is a covid outbreak and beginning tomorrow, all staff will be wearing masks. He advised passengers to also do this when indoors.

In June of 2021 we took a Norwegian cruise through Hawaii, and three months ago were on Regent Seven Seas from Dubai to Singapore. We suspected there was this virus on board, but everything was kept hush hush.

We've been noticing orange colored bags outside of cabins, and already suspected something was wrong. There are five on our floor. Sort of reminded me of 15 Craigside, which placed scary signs on the door of those quarantined. Our retirement community finally got hit with this coronavirus one month before we were scheduled to leave for Sydney. We pretty much kept to ourselves, wore masks when leaving our apartment, and it worked. We got to Australia and are now into week four of our Seabourn cruise. We have one month left.

We were scheduled to have dinner at Thomas Keller's Grill when the announcement was made. We went anyway, but one person I know wore her mask and somehow also ate and drank. She was the only one.

A couple finally sat next to us, and I explained that we were being discourteous because of that announcement. We talked anyway, and turns out they have been cruising on Seabourn for a long time, are Diamond members accumulating 280 days, and were honored in the Captain's Reception this week.

We avoided the Grand Salon show last night and decided to avoid any indoor activities as much as possible. Meals, for example, can be delivered, with no extra charge. The Patio Restaurant has outdoor tables, and today tacos are being served, so we will have margaritas, beer and a Mexican lunch there.

Friends are joining us in Fiji, which is only a few days away. Maybe they should consider delaying this cruise if possible.

Yesterday our main activity was a tour of Noumea. First, lunch.

Then on to our tour of Noumea.

People were coughing on the bus, so of course we wore masks.

We stopped at le Roof for wine and cheese from France. Emmental from France Comté, Rhône Alps, Le Brie and Bleu d'Auvergne, with White Bourdeaux from Bourgogne, Château Claoset Bordeaux, and Sirah et Cinsault Rosé from Provence.

Then the touring continued in a coughing bus.

A Le Meridien.

Downtown Noumea.

After being dropped off at the ship, there was a supermarket across the street, so we went exploring. They would not accept Australian or U.S. money, and we didn't want to use of credit card, otherwise we would have a bought a tube of wasabi. Crabs and a lot of cheese.

The Odyssey left at sunset, and we had another sailaway serenade around the pool.

This was where the Captain announced our outbreak. But we had dinner at The Grill. Note that there is a container of salt to add to the butter.

A White Bordeaux.

We had complained that the soups were all too thin and salty. So the chef made us a special New England Clam Chowder, to which some pork was added, that was not salty, had a good dairy quality, and was the best soup we ever had on this ship. I paired mine with something called New Gazpacho, which I think had avocado in the broth, which also was okay. Added a Raymond Cabernet Sauvignon.

The second course was a beef consommé, which was too salty and thin, creamed spinach, a rib of lamb, which was outstanding, and iceberg lettuce with blue cheese dressing. Note that dish of french fries. Huge, but crispy and very tasty.

Walked 7050 steps today. My Happiness #1 state of mind is being challenged by this outbreak.

Woke up this morning to see Easo, Lifou, New Caledonia.

A NEXT COVID SUBVARIANT?

By now most know that the Omicron BA.5 subvariant has become the dominant infectious agent, now accounting for more than 80% of all COVID-19 cases. Very few are aware that a new one, BA.4.6, is sneaking in and steadily rising, now accounting for 13% of sequenced samples . However, as BA.4.6 has emerged from BA.4, while there is uncertainty, the scientific sense is that the latest bivalent booster targeting BA.4 and BA.5 should also be effective for this next threat. One concern is that Evusheld--the only monoclonal antibody authorized for COVID prevention in immunocompromised individuals--is not effective against BA.4.6. Here is a reference as to what this means. A series of two injections is involved. Evusheld was developed by British-Swedish company AstraZeneca, and is a t ixagevimab co-packaged with cilgavimab . More recently, Los Angeles County reported on subvariant BA.2.75.2 . which Tony Fauci termed suspicious and troublesome. This strain has also been spreading in

Part 3: OUR NEXT AROUND THE WORLD ODYSSEY

Before I get into my third, and final, part of this cruise series, let me start with some more newsworthy topics. Thursday was my pandemic day for years. Thus, every so often I return to bring you up to date on the latest developments. All these subvariants derived from that Omicron variant, and each quickly became dominant, with slightly different symptoms. One of these will shock you. There has been a significant decline in the lost of taste and smell. From two-thirds of early patients to now only 10-20% show these symptoms. JN.1, now the dominant subvariant, results in mostly mild symptoms. However, once JN.1 infects some, there seem to be longer-lasting symptoms. Clearly, the latest booster helps prevent contracting Covid. A competing subvariant, BA.2.86, also known as Pirola , a month ago made a run, but JN.1 prevailed. No variant in particular, but research has shown that some of you will begin to lose hair for several months. This is caused by stress more than anythi

HONOLULU TO SEATTLE

The story of the day is Hurricane Milton, now a Category 4 at 145 MPH, with a track that has moved further south and the eye projected to make landfall just south of Sarasota. Good news for Tampa, which is 73 miles north. Milton will crash into Florida as a Category 4, and is huge, so a lot of problems can still be expected in Tampa Bay with storm surge. If the eye had crossed into the state just north of Tampa, the damage would have been catastrophic. Milton is a fast-moving storm, currently at 17 MPH, so as bad as the rainfall will be over Florida, again, a blessing. The eye will make landfall around 10PM EDT today, and will move into the Atlantic Ocean north of Palm Bay Thursday morning. My first trip to Seattle was in June of 1962 just after I graduated from Stanford University. Caught a bus. Was called the Century 21 Exposition . Also the Seattle World's Fair. 10 million joined me on a six-month run. My first. These are held every five years, and there have only been

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