Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[GhostHost1000]

What’s “this way”? Masks and distancing will be around for a bit I’m sure. What else is are you wanting to change?

Mask, distancing, plexiglass, businesses closed, lining up 6ft apart for something you are then sat next to people on, basic fear of living life for something that has a > 99% survival rate.

I know it’s serious. I’ve known people who have even died from it. The biggest risk is to the older population or those with a weakened immune system...so why does everyone especially kids who are way behind in school across the country have to suffer.

I know I’ll get bashed for this post but just venting some steam off this morning because I’m just getting tired of safety and political theater. Sometimes I wonder if trump hadn’t been president and so many hated him so bad if this would have been so crazy. Why do some states locked down have higher numbers than those wide open? Do we even know what is helping or are we making things worse (mental health in some, drug and alcohol use, etc) with all that has been and continues to go on? Don’t even get me started on how the media has reported on all of this too and lies and coverups that have been happening during all of this (ex. cuomo who the media wanted to run for president early on). I also think it’s crazy those getting vaccinated having to continue social distancing and masking and I know all the stats no one needs to send that to me but when does this end and when do we keep changing the rules on it - we never know what or who to believe. There will have to be a line drawn somewhere. Not everyone will get vaccinated so how long do others have to suffer not living life or business like Disney operating normally because of that

I know it’s bad. I know it’s risky. So is driving a car, or drinking alcohol, or both.

Rant over thanks for the op haha

 

[seascape]

Unfortunately, it's another day Florida has stayed at 21 cases per 100,000. However, there was some good news and some bad news. The good news is that there are 10 states in the single digits and 5 states at 10. Then there are NJ, NY, RI and Michigan. Yes, Michigan has joined in the over 30 states. My primary home of NJ is now at 45, RI is at 34 and NY at 33. Michigan is up 80% in new cases in the past 2 weeks. The country as a whole is now averaging 54,620 new cases a day or 16.5 per 100,000. We need to do better but most states are. Florida is still 27.3% above the national average but NJ is 272.7% above the national average and 214.3% above Florida. We all need to do better but go check out the NY Times Covid19 coverage and map and remember if California can get down to just 7 cases per 100,000 in 2 months there is no reason the entire US can't get down from just 16.5 to 5 in 1 month. Do your part, stay safe, wear a mask, social distance and wash your hands. And take the vaccine so we can end this nightmare.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Tourists from Lockdown states is the point I was making implicitly. If they were to follow through with their chain of reasoning, they would have imposed quarantine restrictions on their inhabitants' return. Instead, they let them go to another state to run amok.

Ehhh...somebody has been awful “vocal”...

The quarantine states are still begging people not to screw it up...officially

 

[networkpro]

Many states do, in fact, require a quarantine upon return in all but some narrowly defined circumstances for people who are fully vaccinated...and I fear the consequences when they return, after a week of maskless, non-distanced gatherings and inevitably don't observe the quarantine.

When Florida and Texas' governors start ringing the dinner bell for maskless fun, what are the rest of the states supposed to do? Build a wall to keep their citizens from going?

We shall see, shan't we? IMHO throwing caution to the wind (FOMO) is one of the hallmarks of youth, that's why the tattoo removal, hearing aid, and addiction recovery industries (to mention just a few) are thriving.

 

[danlb_2000]

Unfortunately, it's another day Florida has stayed at 21 cases per 100,000. However, there was some good news and some bad news. The good news is that there are 10 states in the single digits and 5 states at 10. Then there are NJ, NY, RI and Michigan. Yes, Michigan has joined in the over 30 states. My primary home of NJ is now at 45, RI is at 34 and NY at 33. Michigan is up 80% in new cases in the past 2 weeks. The country as a whole is now averaging 54,620 new cases a day or 16.5 per 100,000. We need to do better but most states are. Florida is still 27.3% above the national average but NJ is 272.7% above the national average and 214.3% above Florida. We all need to do better but go check out the NY Times Covid19 coverage and map and remember if California can get down to just 7 cases per 100,000 in 2 months there is no reason the entire US can't get down from just 16.5 to 5 in 1 month. Do your part, stay safe, wear a mask, social distance and wash your hands. And take the vaccine so we can end this nightmare.

I have tried to be like GoofGoof and remain optimistic, but that is getting harder and harder. NJ is my home state and it's not looking good. Case have been generally trending up for the past month and are now over the daily case number from the initial surge last Spring. US number have been plateaued for the past two weeks and based on the numbers from Worldometer, 7 day rolling started trending upwards as of yesterday.

 

[mmascari]

Live what way? In FL there’s no government restrictions on anything. There’s no way there’s going to be any change to any policy whether there’s a massive surge in cases or not after Spring Break. We had a massive surge in cases this winter after Thanksgiving and Christmas there was no change to policy in FL, why would Spring Break be any different. The state hit 11,000 cases one day this winter and nobody seemed to care. That ship has sailed.

What’s “this way”? Masks and distancing will be around for a bit I’m sure. What else is are you wanting to change?

Mask, distancing, plexiglass, businesses closed, lining up 6ft apart for something you are then sat next to people on, basic fear of living life for something that has a > 99% survival rate.

Big numbers, statistics, percentages, and normalization.

If 200 people die, it’s a tragedy we want to prevent from happening again.
If 200,000 people die, it’s a statistic, not relatable.
Given a large enough sample size, 1% or even 0.5% is still a huge number. Especially if the impact is severe.

All of this ends when it was always going to end, when transmission is reduced enough so that the number of impacted people falls below a threshold society can accept. Everything we’re doing now is just a stopgap to try and reach that level before a permanent solution is arrived at.

Normalization and time will raise that threshold higher.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Big numbers, statistics, percentages, and normalization.

If 200 people die, it’s a tragedy we want to prevent from happening again.
If 200,000 people die, it’s a statistic, not relatable.
Given a large enough sample size, 1% or even 0.5% is still a huge number. Especially if the impact is severe.

All of this ends when it was always going to end, when transmission is reduced enough so that the number of impacted people falls below a threshold society can accept. Everything we’re doing now is just a stopgap to try and reach that level before a permanent solution is arrived at.

Normalization and time will raise that threshold higher.

thats the issue - It’s never going to end. So where is the line drawn to when normalization returns or are we always going to have safety and political theater?

 

[LittleBuford]

Sometimes I wonder if trump hadn’t been president and so many hated him so bad if this would have been so crazy.

I’d suggest looking beyond your own borders at the wider world before attributing pandemic mitigation efforts to anti-Trump sentiments.

 

[GoofGoof]

Many states do, in fact, require a quarantine upon return in all but some narrowly defined circumstances for people who are fully vaccinated...and I fear the consequences when they return, after a week of maskless, non-distanced gatherings and inevitably don't observe the quarantine.

When Florida and Texas' governors start ringing the dinner bell for maskless fun, what are the rest of the states supposed to do? Build a wall to keep their citizens from going?

The irony is when there was a false rumor about potential domestic flight restrictions involving FL people here were foaming at the mouth getting ready to storm the Capital building, but now the expectation is that every other state is supposed to somehow police their citizens from going to FL when at the same time the Governor is on any network that will take him bragging about how everything in FL is open and everyone there is happy and having a good time. The blame for all these people showing up in FL falls squarely on that type of PR. Stupid is is stupid does. If you don’t want mobs of college students descending on your state it’s probably best not to hang an open for business sign out front so aggressively.

 

[GhostHost1000]

I’d suggest looking beyond your own borders at the wider world before attributing pandemic mitigation efforts to anti-Trump sentiments.

Have you watched the media in this country?

I know it’s bad. Here and everywhere...but it isn’t his fault like the media made it sound especially during the election time

 

[GoofGoof]

thats the issue - It’s never going to end. So where is the line drawn to when normalization returns or are we always going to have safety and political theater?

It is going to end...if enough people get vaccinated. I know I’m a broken record on this but it’s really true. One of the biggest risks to the vaccine rollout failing is lack of desire by people. One of the biggest drivers of that lack of desire to be vaccinated is the narrative that people like to push that Covid is only an issue for older and sick people. That just makes a lot of people feel like they don’t really need the vaccine. The vaccines work, they will get us out of this as long as enough people take them. Look at Israel right now. They are right at 50% fully vaccinated and their cases have trended way down right now. Over 80% of their cases were from the UK and other variants so it’s further proof that the vaccines will work even with variants.

The US government through Warp Speed in conjunction with the 3 main pharmaceutical companies is providing enough vaccine for every adult in the US who wants one by mid-May. No other major nation is going to have that much vaccine that quickly. It’s a testament to the companies, to our federal government including Donald Trump (yes I said that) and the state and local governments who are handling the front line logistics. It would be truly tragic if we didn’t get enough people vaccinated to get us out of this as quickly as possible. The best bet to get rid of Covid safety protocols as quickly as possible is to get everyone vaccinated as fast as possible. Whether you think they are necessary or theater they still go away once we reach enough people vaccinated so that should be the singular focus. In other words, a lot of the people fighting to remove restrictions the hardest don‘t focus enough time (or any) on hyping the vaccines.

 

[LittleBuford]

Have you watched the media in this country?

I know it’s bad. Here and everywhere...but it isn’t his fault like the media made it sound especially during the election time

The media aren’t responsible for imposing the measures you’re complaining about—measures that are, as I implied, far from unique to the US.

 

[mmascari]

thats the issue - It’s never going to end. So where is the line drawn to when normalization returns or are we always going to have safety and political theater?

I’m more optimistic. I think we’ll be able to vaccinate enough people to drive the impact numbers below the flu. I think we’ll even get them below the measles.

If someone is fine with 1,000 a day, it’s over now. Since we’re still taking actions to reduce it further, there’s clearly lots of people that have a lower number.

If we stopped vaccination today, and wanted to keep the number at 1,000, what we're doing today would become the new normal. But nobody at any number wants that. People want to remove mitigations, which would drive the number up without replacing them with something else. That’s why it’s important to get enough people vaccinated, that will drive the number down and remove the need for other mitigation measures.

The only way to be fine with just stopping all mitigations today is to be fine with a number way larger than 1,000 a day.

We’re a year in and know way more than we did at the start. We should be focusing on the mitigations with the most impact. Anything that helps prevent people from breathing in what someone else recently exhaled. Stuff like letting packages sit for 3 days before opening is clearly stupid now.

The number one thing though is to vaccinate as many people as possible. That will have the largest impact.

 

[Heppenheimer]

thats the issue - It’s never going to end. So where is the line drawn to when normalization returns or are we always going to have safety and political theater?

Can we stop with this "safety and political theater" nonsense? Countless posters here have linked countless real-world studies showing that masking and social distancing actually do reduce transmission.

I get it, the pandemic sucks. We all hate it. But we're all in this together. There are no guarantees in life (well, death, taxes, and increased Disney prices excepted), but if we can learn anything from prior pandemics and all the research conducted in this one, the same basic tools that got us out of previous pandemics are the most likely ones that will end this one... masking, social distancing, quarantining when necessary and vaccination. The longer we resist those measures for...I don't know, reasons, the longer this pandemic goes on.

This is not political, this is reality.

 

[GoofGoof]

I know I’ll get bashed for this post but just venting some steam off this morning because I’m just getting tired of safety and political theater. Sometimes I wonder if trump hadn’t been president and so many hated him so bad if this would have been so crazy.

That was the theory last year. That Covid would disappear once the election was over. That didn’t happen. CA, the bluest state out there went back to stay at home orders a month after the election. If this was all theater based on Trump and politics than how do we explain parts of Europe going back into lock down for the 3rd or 4th time as another wave ramps up. Most other countries had similar or more severe Covid restrictions. If it was all based on politics and Trump it would be isolated to the US.

After saying all of this I 100% agree that Trump made the divide worse. So I don’t agree that things were only theater to damage Trump. His buddy runs the state of FL which went into lockdown in the Spring and closed bars And restricted restaurants in the Summer. He wasn’t doing that to hurt Trump.

 

[Heppenheimer]

Have you watched the media in this country?

I know it’s bad. Here and everywhere...but it isn’t his fault like the media made it sound especially during the election time

Trump's responses to the pandemic were middling at best, atrocious and counterproductive at worst. Plus, his gutting of the federal health agencies prior to the pandemic (including the complete disestablishment of the Office of Pandemic Response created by Bush II) left us uniquely vulnerable. And during the critical phase when the pandemic reached its apex during the holidays and the initial vaccine roll-out, he was completely MIA, more busy spreading lies about the election than being a leader. As we said in the army, "When in charge, be in charge."

No, the COVID-19 pandemic is not the sole fault of Donald J. Trump. Even the most competently run administrations around the world struggled to manage this disease. But with the right messaging, the right coordination, the right leadership, and with all our considerable resources this country can mobilize, there is no reason we needed to be the world leader in cases and deaths. No, the more responsible media was not putting the blame only on Trump, but they were rightly critical of his response, or at times, lack thereof.. as is their job.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

thats the issue - It’s never going to end. So where is the line drawn to when normalization returns or are we always going to have safety and political theater?

Possibly. Look at the amount of security we have to deal with to board airplanes, visit theme parks, and attend a concert.

That’s way more political theatre than wearing a mask during a global pandemic in my book.

 

[Incomudro]

Mask, distancing, plexiglass, businesses closed, lining up 6ft apart for something you are then sat next to people on, basic fear of living life for something that has a > 99% survival rate.

I know it’s serious. I’ve known people who have even died from it. The biggest risk is to the older population or those with a weakened immune system...so why does everyone especially kids who are way behind in school across the country have to suffer.

I know I’ll get bashed for this post but just venting some steam off this morning because I’m just getting tired of safety and political theater. Sometimes I wonder if trump hadn’t been president and so many hated him so bad if this would have been so crazy. Why do some states locked down have higher numbers than those wide open? Do we even know what is helping or are we making things worse (mental health in some, drug and alcohol use, etc) with all that has been and continues to go on? Don’t even get me started on how the media has reported on all of this too and lies and coverups that have been happening during all of this (ex. cuomo who the media wanted to run for president early on). I also think it’s crazy those getting vaccinated having to continue social distancing and masking and I know all the stats no one needs to send that to me but when does this end and when do we keep changing the rules on it - we never know what or who to believe. There will have to be a line drawn somewhere. Not everyone will get vaccinated so how long do others have to suffer not living life or business like Disney operating normally because of that

I know it’s bad. I know it’s risky. So is driving a car, or drinking alcohol, or both.

Rant over thanks for the op haha

The very most that masks and social distancing have done is reduce the rate of spread.
Those things are good things, if they did indeed keep this virus from compounding at a rate beyond which our healthcare systems could handle.
But did they actually prevent this pandemic from running its course?
It doesn't seem as though they did.
Honestly, do people really believe that when groups of people are near each other and they are wearing ill fitting surgical masks, that the air they inhale and exhale isn't going in and around all those gaps in the seal of the masks?
And social distancing, the air we inhale and exhale doesn't just drop off and away at six feet, or now three feet.
Sometimes you're walking behind someone, or riding in a WDW vehicle directly behind someone, or you're downwind from people.
And so many other variables... Air and the viral particles it may carry doesn't flow or not flow under a set of rigid criteria.
Air is a fluid.

 

[Flugell]

thats the issue - It’s never going to end. So where is the line drawn to when normalization returns or are we always going to have safety and political theater?

Just confused, why is safety linked with political theatre?

 

[Parker in NYC]

Not reporting anything new, but just a word of caution... one of my physician partners had 2nd dose of Pfizer vaccine in early Jan, but just tested + for covid. He has 101 degree fever and significant malaise. Whether he is one of the 4-5% that didn’t get immunity to the original strain or he is infected with a variant, I don’t know.
Either way, this and recent worldwide upticks lead me to believe that this is not going away anytime soon. We will need updated vaccines, more efficient testing, better treatments, and patience. We will learn to live with it.

I hope your partner makes a full recovery. On a selfish note, this did wonders for my Sunday. Hypochondriacs unite.