MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Family and friends are grieving the loss of a Memphis artist and a Cooper-Young neighbor Dan Spector, who family said died late Tuesday from COVID-19 complications.
The 68-year-old was described by friends on social media with these comments:
"He was such a generous, funny, kindhearted, and intelligent person."
"Dan was an amazing artist and craftsman, a true plaster believer and a master of his craft."
"A wonderful artist and craftsman, supportive of others creativity."
"Dan Spector was quirky; that is why we all loved him. He marched to the beat of a different drum and that was cool."
Wednesday morning, on a video conference call, Spector's siblings and those at Beth Sholom synagogue in Memphis also paid tribute and showed their respects.
Spector was known in Memphis for creativity and had a store on Broad Avenue for years before it closed in 2016.
Mark Morrison, the president of the Cooper-Young Community Association, said of Spector, "He clearly cared about the community, about Cooper-Young itself. It definitely hits home to me because he's the only person I know here from personal or work life that actually contracted COVID-19."
Morrison said Spector was an active member in the CYCA, showing up often at meetings and volunteering, and was very instrumental in the push for Cooper-Young to be designated as a landmark historic district.
"It's a loss for Cooper-Young in losing someone who was so passionate and involved in the community," Morrison said.
We are also told that Spector was a longtime volunteer with Memphis in May events, assisting in artwork with the organization.
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Coronavirus in Context:
The majority of people who have coronavirus will get better without any long-term effects, according to an Oregon doctor. About 80% of cases tend to be mild. In these cases, symptoms diminish over five to seven days, although people are still capable of transmitting the disease. But there are many people with a higher risk of having a more severe disease if they are diagnosed with coronavirus, including those with heart disease, diabetes, asthma and other vascular disease problems.
Also, most children who get it have mild symptoms.
WHO officials said March 9 that of about 80,000 people who have been sickened by COVID-19 in China, more than 70% have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.
Patients are typically released when they test negative twice for the virus within 24 hours, meaning they’re no longer carrying the virus, although some countries may be using a slightly different definition, that may include when people have no more respiratory symptoms or a clear CT scan.
The World Health Organization said it could take considerably longer for people to be “recovered,” depending on the severity of disease.
Dr. Mike Ryan, the World Health Organization's emergencies chief, said it can take up to six weeks for people to fully recover from COVID-19 infections, which could include pneumonia and other respiratory problems in serious cases. He said the numbers of reported patients have not always been systematically provided to World Health Organization although the U.N. health agency is asking every country with cases for further information.
To put the coronavirus numbers in context, millions of Americans get the flu every single year and there are thousands of flu deaths annually.
Since October 2019, the CDC estimates around 32 million Americans have gotten the flu. That’s one in every 10 Americans.