Teri, my friend who is an emergency nurse, upon seeing my virus study in social media, writes:
What did you do during the pandemic Monica?
Responding to herself she continues…I sketched it.
Enjoying the first part of Spring Break, I spend a couple of long days outdoors before the rains come. By end of week, I receive word school break is extended another week, to the 20th. News of COVID-19 fill the airwaves.
It rains. It pours. I draw.
Coronavirus: Internal structure. Note Spikes (glycoproteins) and single strand RNA
Fascinated by viruses, I note the coronavirus described as aesthetically pleasing. I agree.
In the studio the latter part of the week, I draw while listening to science podcasts, in general, on the subject of viruses, in particular on COVID-19. I learn about amplifier hosts and reservoir hosts. I learn words like retrovirus and zoonosis.
COVID-19 stands for coronavirus disease 2019. It gets its name from the spikes on its surface which resemble a crown. There are a number of coronaviruses (including MERS and SARS).
I understand now COVID-19 is a concern because it is a single-stranded RNA virus (top image) that mutates quickly and can travel on a sneeze and a cough.
This is why Spring Break extends another week and events are cancelled – it’s logical.
coronavirus – external structure
Days flow…oddly different from morning to evening now. Tara, my neighbor, shows me a photo she takes of the empty fruit section at the grocery store today.
….Mostly Sunny, Partly Cloudy, Mostly Cloudy, Scattered Thunderstorms….
#WhoAmI? #WhatAmI? #WhatIsThisWorld? #WhatIsMyRelationshipToIt
#Art #Science #Curiosity #GottaHaveArt
Here are some educational (and so accessible) sources on viruses in general and some on COVID-19 in particular.
Out of ASU: Zombified Podcast is intelligent and makes learning easy, fun and sometimes…icky (in a good way). This week they cover viruses. The episode was taped before current crisis began, making the ending play like a prediction.
→ Bat shit featuring David Quammen
On COVID-19 in particular → David Quammen, Fresh-Air
Everything virology, with last 7 episodes on COVID-19 → TWiV This Week in Virology
Food for thought (with valuable embedded links) → How to act cooperatively in the face of a pandemic
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Monica Aissa Martinez 
Omg. I can’t stop
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Reblogged this on Monica Aissa Martinez and commented:
Who could have imagined when I uploaded this post one year ago today…
Deaths in US 532,355
Cases in US 29,269,590
Vaccines administered 109,081,860
Today is the first day of Spring break.
In the Art Department, at my college, we are teaching Hybrid studio classes. We have downsized the number of students. When we meet on campus and can work outdoors, we do. Everyone is masked.
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