Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[Disney Glimpses]

I suspect many are waiting for this. Hopefully approvals come.

 

[Hakunamatata]

This may have been discussed already. Interesting study on the impact of lockdowns. Page 40 starts the conclusions which interestingly enough found no significant correlation between lockdowns and reduced mortality.

https://sites.krieger.jhu.edu/iae/files/2022/01/A-Literature-Review-and-Meta-Analysis-of-the-Effects-of-Lockdowns-on-COVID-19-Mortality.pdf

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Could the end be in sight?

"We say goodbye to the restrictions and welcome the life we knew before," Frederiksen said. "As of Feb. 1, Denmark will be open."

MSN

The problem with this is that Covid will not be the last pandemic humans experience. If mask wearing, in general is so ineffective, and a worse novel virus emerges, especially one that affects a younger age group more severely (like previous influenzas) what will our toolbox look like? Masks allow people to be around other people. Without them we’re talking the more severe restrictions everyone hates. In order to keep people away from other people.

Hopefully we are smart enough to stockpile non perishable items that are effective. Imagine how differently the masks debate would have gone in this country over the last 2 years if the government had been able to distribute a handful of N95 masks to everyone in April 2020 rather than telling us masks don’t work and not to wear them.

I loathe masks but will be holding onto my favorites even after the mandates are gone, just in case I need one in the future. I never used to buy extra cleaners, toilet paper, food, etc either but now I buy enough that I can go a few months without needing to shop if necessary.

The thing many forget is the masks are only 1 part of it. When combined with social distancing and vaccines they work best. Unfortunately social distancing no longer exists in most places, especially Disney. Which blows my mind. Maybe I am an odd one but I enjoyed having personal space.

Social distancing is the one thing I wish would have stuck around.

 

[Andrew C]

The omicron subvariant is more contagious, but vaccinated people are less likely to spread it, study finds

People who were fully vaccinated actually transmitted BA.2 less than BA.1, the currently dominant omicron strain.

www.cnbc.com

 

[danlb_2000]

So I went and checked the first two on the list. Based on these, I am a little suspicious of this table.

Mask use, hand hygiene, and seasonal influenza-like illness among young adults: a randomized intervention trial - PubMed

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00490633.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

"These findings suggest that face masks and hand hygiene may reduce respiratory illnesses in shared living settings and mitigate the impact of the influenza A(H1N1) pandemic."

Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial to Test Effectiveness of Facemasks in Preventing Influenza-like Illness Transmission among Australian Hajj Pilgrims in 2011 - PubMed

Studies to determine the effectiveness of facemasks in preventing influenza have been inconclusive, largely due to small sample size. The Hajj pilgrimage, where the incidence of influenza and other respiratory infections is high, provides an excellent opportunity to test the effectiveness of...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

" Based on developing syndromic ILI, less contacts became symptomatic in the 'mask' tents compared to the 'control' tents (31% versus 53%, p= 0.04). However, laboratory results did not show any difference between the two groups"

Also, another important part of this review of studies...

"However, the majority of these studies were conducted in households in which at least one person was infected, and exposure levels might be relatively higher. Additional studies of face mask use in the general community would be valuable."

https://sites.krieger.jhu.edu/iae/files/2022/01/A-Literature-Review-and-Meta-Analysis-of-the-Effects-of-Lockdowns-on-COVID-19-Mortality.pdf

 

[Incomudro]

The problem with this is that Covid will not be the last pandemic humans experience. If mask wearing, in general is so ineffective, and a worse novel virus emerges, especially one that affects a younger age group more severely (like previous influenzas) what will our toolbox look like? Masks allow people to be around other people. Without them we’re talking the more severe restrictions everyone hates. In order to keep people away from other people.

Our toolbox is vaccines, and trying to get the population to be healthier in the future.
And... Yes, N95's if things ever get really bad.

 

[mmascari]

More insanity from school districts. Equity hubs, aka in-person learning without a teacher present. Safe enough for the kids to gather in-person with a non-teacher proctor but not safe enough for the vaccinated teacher to be there.

Um, they literally ran out of teachers and subs. These are quite literally babysitters, not just derogatory names for teachers. Since, a teacher who is infectious but not feeling bad, say they’re vaccinated and boosted, but still needs a few days isolated can still teach a remote class. You also need less babysitters if half the kids are able to do remote from home. It’s a 2 week break too, not some months long change. Based on factors for the school not the entire district.

It’s a capacity problem, with not enough to staff an entire school. While at the same time recognizing that remote is much harder for some kids and addressing that subset directly.

I mean, they could have all the kids come in and sit in the gym all day, since there’s no qualified teacher to replace them and we wouldn’t want a qualified, infectious, but otherwise fine teacher doing it remotely. Could also just shut down for 2 weeks with no learning at all.

Same if it’s the number of infectious kids.

I suppose we could just infect all the kids. It’s not that bad right, only a smallish percent have long term issues and smaller even die. Let’s drive that infected number as large as possible to maximize the raw number in the small present.

 

[Jrb1979]

Um, they literally ran out of teachers and subs. These are quite literally babysitters, not just derogatory names for teachers. Since, a teacher who is infectious but not feeling bad, say they’re vaccinated and boosted, but still needs a few days isolated can still teach a remote class. You also need less babysitters if half the kids are able to do remote from home. It’s a 2 week break too, not some months long change. Based on factors for the school not the entire district.

It’s a capacity problem, with not enough to staff an entire school. While at the same time recognizing that remote is much harder for some kids and addressing that subset directly.

I mean, they could have all the kids come in and sit in the gym all day, since there’s no qualified teacher to replace them and we wouldn’t want a qualified, infectious, but otherwise fine teacher doing it remotely. Could also just shut down for 2 weeks with no learning at all.

Same if it’s the number of infectious kids.

I suppose we could just infect all the kids. It’s not that bad right, only a smallish percent have long term issues and smaller even die. Let’s drive that infected number as large as possible to maximize the raw number in the small present.

I 100% agree with your post. What bugs me is that many say we need to learn to live with this. Things like that plan to go virtual if needed is part of the process. Dropping all mandates and just going back to life like it was pre-Covid isn't learning to live with it.

 

[Polkadotdress]

Oh my gosh. What happened these last few pages? It's *like* we went back to early 2020...

 

[Andrew C]

You saying the teachers should go into work sick?

The ongoing excuse making for schools that continue to do a poor job, while at the same time blowing off schools who have been successful by doing things differently is ridiculous. I don’t get why some just want to settle and say “well it’s just the way it is.” Raise your expectations and demand better. It doesn’t need to be this bad. Their playbook is just garbage and they refuse to change it.

 

[BuddyThomas]

Some people (me) don't believe they're effective at that.

Well you can believe whatever you want. I’m not on here to convince anyone of anything. It has been explained to death on here with countless links to news stories, etc and at this point, I’m not interested in any continued debate. If I’m on a train with someone too selfish to wear a mask, I’ll just move to the next car. If I’m in a theatre with a moron who refuses to keep their mask on, I’ll just get the usher. Etc, etc, etc.

 

[Jrb1979]

The ongoing excuse making for schools that continue to do a poor job, while at the same time blowing off schools who have been successful by doing things differently is ridiculous. I don’t get why some just want to settle and say “well it’s just the way it is.” Raise your expectations and demand better. It doesn’t need to be this bad. Their playbook is just garbage and they refuse to change it.

I think most are trying to do the best they can. What more can be done? If teachers are sick there's not much you can do.

 

[Andrew C]

I think most are trying to do the best they can. What more can be done? If teachers are sick there's not much you can do.

Not they aren’t. A lot more can be done. Change the strategy. Look at schools that have been successful and take some of their ideas.

 

[danlb_2000]

Some people (me) don't believe they're effective at that.

And there are also people who believe the earth is flat, doesn't make it true.

 

[danlb_2000]

COVID-19 lockdowns caused more deaths instead of reducing them, study finds

As we begin to pick through the rubble of the early days of the coronavirus, it is important that we assess our public health approaches to the disease.

www.washingtontimes.com

This statement is interesting...

"The pathologies of the lockdowns are clear and have been both predicted and recorded. They include increased risk of preventable deaths from cancer, heart disease, etc., "

Heart disease I an maybe understand, but how did lockdowns lead to higher rates of cancer?

 

[Andrew C]

This statement is interesting...

"The pathologies of the lockdowns are clear and have been both predicted and recorded. They include increased risk of preventable deaths from cancer, heart disease, etc., "

Heart disease I an maybe understand, but how did lockdowns lead to higher rates of cancer?

Is the reference around a reduction in preventative testing? Things like mammograms, etc?

 

[BuddyThomas]

Not they aren’t. A lot more can be done. Change the strategy. Look at schools that have been successful and take some of their ideas.

There happens to be a gigantic teacher shortage in this country right now. Just google “teacher shortage” and watch all the bazillions of news stories that pop up. Add COVID to the mix and you have a pretty disastrous situation. I’m not sure what you expect under these circumstances.

 

[Nubs70]

This statement is interesting...

"The pathologies of the lockdowns are clear and have been both predicted and recorded. They include increased risk of preventable deaths from cancer, heart disease, etc., "

Heart disease I an maybe understand, but how did lockdowns lead to higher rates of cancer?

Delayed identification and/or treatment

 

[Andrew C]

There happens to be a gigantic teacher shortage in this country right now. Just google “teacher shortage” and watch all the bazillions of news stories that pop up. Add COVID to the mix and you have a pretty disastrous situation. I’m not sure what you expect under these circumstances.

Obviously I expect much more than some around here. As I said previously, raise your expectations for what is possible. There are successful schools out there.

 

[danlb_2000]

Is the reference around a reduction in preventative testing? Things like mammograms, etc?

But what did lockdowns have to do with that? In most countries lockdowns had exclusions for medical care.