Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[Disney Experience]

Determining the efficacy of a vaccine is much easier then for a mask. The evidence for the efficacy of masks comes from a combination of numerous studies, some that studied how masks blocked respiratory droplets in a laboratory settings, some that looked at specific real-work situations that happened to be controlled enough to show useful data.

It's very hard to do controlled studies for mask wearing. With the vaccine, you give on group of people the vaccine and another a placebo and then compare the number of people who get sick. It's a lot harder to do that with masks, especially when we were in a time where mask wearing was mandatory in so many public places.

The "best" way to test this would be to have known infected people, breath on healthy people with and without masks and then count how many of them become sick. These are called Challenge trials, and although they are no unheard of, you can understand why they are uncommon.

An analysis of difficulties of doing a non lab covid mask study can be found here:
It is generalized to highlight the issues in crafting studies.

COVID-19: underpowered randomised trials, or no randomised trials? - Trials

A recently published trial of face mask use to protect against COVID-19 demonstrated a key barrier to carrying out randomised trials in public health: the need for unattainably large sample sizes. For many public health interventions, the choice is not between sufficiently powered trials and...

trialsjournal.biomedcentral.com

 

[Flugell]

I just got a call and I am going in tomorrow at 8am for my appointment. We'll see what data they give me then.

Thanks for all your help to the world.

 

[Jwink]

I don’t know if this has been discussed yet, but with delta being such a concern (even kids are ending up in the ICU) are we thinking disney will mandate masks indoors again?

I’m really hoping they do.

 

[correcaminos]

Thanks for all your help to the world.

Truly glad to help. Though kind of bummed... tomorrow was my last "full day" before the house returns from outdoor camp. No late night movie here as the lab is on the other side of a major city.

 

[Heppenheimer]

This is a classic "America is great" attitude, in which we believe that NOTHING is ever our fault.

Or that we should even try to improve things here, because obviously everything is perfect and nothing needs to change.

 

[Chi84]

I don’t know if this has been discussed yet, but with delta being such a concern (even kids are ending up in the ICU) are we thinking disney will mandate masks indoors again?

I’m really hoping they do.

I don't think they'll go down that road again unless it gets really bad. When are you visiting?

 

[havoc315]

Except, we've had the highest documented caseloads in the world. And we seem to have a unique national preference of trying to fight the virus with Constitutional arguments, rather than tried-and-true public health measures. I wouldn't rule out a variant of concern arising here if we continue down the same "well, good enough" or "...but, my rights!" approach.

The problem is, where ever a variant of concern arises, we are poorly equipped to handle it.

Delta already appears more concerning than previous strains. It's not about a variant that evades vaccines 100%, though that is a definite danger.
But you get variants where vaccines are only 50% effective... 60% effective... If we were 90%+ vaccinated, squashed this thing. Then a new variant where vaccines are "only" 50% effective would be less of a danger: We would have a flare up when the new variant is introduced, but even then, the high level of vaccination would keep it more contained.

 

[Bob Harlem]

I don’t know if this has been discussed yet, but with delta being such a concern (even kids are ending up in the ICU) are we thinking disney will mandate masks indoors again?

I’m really hoping they do.

The Official MS State data came out which did not confirm 7 in ICU. Actually it's only 5 kids in the entire state with covid in the hospital, none of them are in ICU. There are kids in the ICU but not covid related. You really have to be careful of the news reports and their sources since they can be misleading or at worst purposely vague.

COVID-19 Reported Patient Impact and Hospital Capacity by State (RAW) | HealthData.gov

healthdata.gov

 

[hopemax]

I expect a lot of whining about health care costs due to care needed for people who weren't hospitalized, and didn't die, in the future. That will be fun.

Or that we should even try to improve things here, because obviously everything is perfect and nothing needs to change.

Except our electronics. And cars. Because we totally get how the first one to market, or 1.0 version may not be the best after awhile.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

Interesting study out of Europe. It appears having your annual influenza vaccine may protect you against some of the more severe consequences of COVID-19:

Flu jab protects against some of the severe effects of COVID-19, including

The flu vaccine may provide vital protection against COVID-19, new research being presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), held online this year, concludes.

www.eurekalert.org

This is now less relevant for the US, Canada and western Europe, where the supply of highly effective COVID is mostly adequate for the task currently. But it could provide a temporary stop-gap for countries that so far lack adequate supplies. Given our low rates of annual influenza vaccination in the US, however, I doubt anyone who would refuse the COVID vaccines would opt instead for the flu shot.

It will be interesting to see if the same results hold for those who are fully COVID vaccinated and they receive extra protection from adverse outcomes. The numbers might be too low to reach statistical significance, however.

That’s great news. I have the COVID shot.. the flu shot.. now I need a study on the shingles shot helping also.. got that one also. Starting to feel like a iron man here.

 

[havoc315]

The Official MS State data came out which did not confirm 7 in ICU. Actually it's only 5 kids in the entire state with covid in the hospital, none of them are in ICU. There are kids in the ICU but not covid related. You really have to be careful of the news reports and their sources since they can be misleading or at worst purposely vague.

COVID-19 Reported Patient Impact and Hospital Capacity by State (RAW) | HealthData.gov

healthdata.gov

Possible the information has not yet been provided to CDC.. according to state officials, it is 7 Covid kids in ICU:

Mississippi health officials warn about delta 'surge' as 7 children in ICU due to COVID-19

Of the seven children diagnosed with COVID-19 currently in the intensive care unit, two are on ventilators, Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said.

abcnews.go.com

 

[StaceyH_SD]

Well you can do that in the UK, Spain, France and a few other European countries and see that hasn't happened. Also easy to compare to prior spikes in the US (Including the one last July). It is overblown, not nonexistent, but definitely much less severe (case count doesn't show severity) in general compared to other instances. India (Which has fallen sharply since the spike), and Indonesia are a bit different.

Ok, Bob. Here in the US THIS is what is happening in SW Missouri:

CoxHealth's hospital in Springfield was treating 125 COVID-19 patients as of Monday. The city's other major hospital, Mercy Hospital Springfield, reported 134 patients with COVID-19, including several children. More than 20 were on ventilators.

As a result of the influx, Mercy Hospital announced Sunday it was opening a sixth COVID-19 unit. Last year, it needed only five.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2021/07/13/1015...d-arkansas-surge-to-levels-not-seen-since-win

As I said, let’s see where we are in 3 weeks. Hospitalizations and deaths lag cases and cases are only just starting to go up.

 

[Trauma]

I don’t know if this has been discussed yet, but with delta being such a concern (even kids are ending up in the ICU) are we thinking disney will mandate masks indoors again?

I’m really hoping they do.

Why what does this achieve?

 

[LittleBuford]

For anyone who doesn't think the hospitals will be stressed beyond capacity I saw it with my own eyes yesterday. I'm praying for my elderly mom and am with her during allowed hours , to get the medical assistance she needs when she went to the ER due to left side chest pains. After many hours in the ER, she was on a stretcher in a very crowded hallway and every inch of hallway space was crowded with stretcher beds. The line to get into the ER stretched outside in the heat. She is now in a cardiac wing in a private room but the overcrowding of the ER is what brought the reality home to me. Get your vaccine shot and better chances to protect yourself and others for goodness sake! This is no time to distrust the medical experts.

Sending you and your family my very best wishes. I hope your mother gets better soon.

 

[Polkadotdress]

Or that we should even try to improve things here, because obviously everything is perfect and nothing needs to change.

We're #1!!!

'Merica!

 

[Polkadotdress]

That’s great news. I have the COVID shot.. the flu shot.. now I need a study on the shingles shot helping also.. got that one also. Starting to feel like a iron man here.

Same! I even had to juggle the shingles amongst the Covid shots, as I unexpectedly was able to get the Covid vaccine earlier than I had planned.

 

[Trauma]

Despite Delta variant's spread, Gov. Ron DeSantis remains opposed to mask mandates in Florida schools

Florida’s governor is standing firm against mask mandates in the coming academic year.

www.wptv.com

When I was grilling member services for DVC about what happens if I cancel within the 31 day window due to a return of mask mandates, they assured me masks would not be returning unless
mandated by the state.

That does not seem likely.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

Same! I even had to juggle the shingles amongst the Covid shots, as I unexpectedly was able to get the Covid vaccine earlier than I had planned.

So did I.

 

[correcaminos]

I have the details from my trial finally. Going in tomorrow bright and early, but this time they sent information to read prior. I appreciate that as this one has 30 pages which just wastes my time otherwise. Appointment should be 3 hours which is about what I experienced previously for the first appointment. The person who called 2 days ago was wrong on which one I am doing. I will be doing a generic booster, not a specific for Delta. It will be observer blind again but from the time tables, it looks like they expect to find if boosters are needed sooner than later. In the writing, they make it clear that if boosters are needed and I get the placebo, I'll be given one as part of the trial and then studied further. If I have the booster or placebo and we do not need one it extends me 1 year of following with blood tests at 6 months. If I do get the placebo and will need a booster I will be followed 6 months post injection.

Does this mean we need boosters? No. They will use about 10,000 people in this specific study. Intentionally doing 4k being 56+ I'll be one of about 6k in the younger group.

 

[danlb_2000]

Why what does this achieve?

Lowers the chance of spread of the virus.