Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[thomas998]

If (that's a big "if" of course) I were sure it was safe/approved by CDC, I'd be willing to go to WDW with a lot of stuff closed. Presumably there'd be lower crowds so I feel like it would be worth it. Plus I'd just be happy to do something fun and normal.

I wish we knew for sure that once you were infected and recovered you were immune and not capable of spreading the virus, because then you'd have people that for sure could be out and about, and even volunteer or be paid to take care of others (deliver food, help out at home, etc.).

Unfortunately even if you get over it you won't be immune forever. With some diseases you're good for life, but with a typical flu its more like 2 years, I've been told that with other coronaviruses it has been as little as 3 months before you're ripe for another infection.

Then of course there is the question of how long it stays in your body once you are showing negative on a test. I remember some doctors without borders guy that caught some nasty virus in Africa and had to be quarantined for it... he was showing negative but weeks after he got back to the US he infected his wife because apparently the virus still existed in his testicles. It could be a long time and lots of studies before they know just how and where the virus will linger in a person.

 

[The Mom]

Not sure where you grew up but the Cuban Missile crisis was pretty much considered the coming of the end of the world. My grandparents had a bunker in their back yard designed with radioactive fallout in mind. It's over kill for tornados but that's all its really used for anymore. In the end I think we will find the real facts of just how dangerous this virus really was, but it may be a year or longer before the real facts get sorted from the chicken little squawking that has been coming from the media. I'm guessing it will be much closer to the Hong Kong pandemic of the late 1960's than it will be to the Spanish flu pandemic...

I was talking about that one event in particular - we were all preparing for bombs and missiles to hit - we had a "shelter" in our basement stocked with supplies, just in case. Which would have done zero good in the long run. The same with duck and cover in the schools, although our school basement was considered a shelter - windows and all.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

You can't just go by what most claim either, remember at one time everyone except Galileo would have sworn a stack of bibles that the earth was flat and the world revolved our the Earth.

I give up.

 

[jrhwdw]

They need to get back open as soon as possible for obvious reasons, and I think there will be enough people willing to accept a modified experience to make it viable. But we'll see.

That makes me fell a little better! I was hearing rumors yesturday of 45 days till peak and UK's saying we could have Corona till Spring 2021!!! Don't shoot me! It might be hearsay but still!

 

[The Mom]

Why did the pandemic resurface 2 times???? Was it a different type like H1N1?

Yes, there were different strains. And no vaccines yet.

 

[thomas998]

I really hate this. The media is basically reporting what medical authorities are begging them to get out, and inevitably, it's "doom and gloom." And it's always like this. There is no crisis that's not going to have an enormous chunk of people saying, "Oh, wow, you go ahead and do your panic thing." They literally based the Superman mythos around the idea that the resting state of people is to basically ignore bad stuff until it bites them on the tuchus.

And what's worse, success in the past - or having lived through other stuff - makes people complacent or even denialist. I saw someone post about the "Y2K hysteria" a few days ago, and that just frigging incensed me. There was no Y2K meltdown BC great engineers worked their fingers to the bone for years to redo code and rebuild systems to prevent that from happening.

Disasters are averted by really smart people engaging with the crisis, usually with the barest smidgen of credit, while a swarm of Johnny-know-it-alls smugly make dismissive pronouncements from their easy chairs. And society succeeds in flattening the curve, keeping the rate of infection low enough that it doesn't swamp our health care system, it's all going to be yammering about "media hysterics" and what not. There won't be any talk about how a lot fewer people died because we took maximum steps to band together and prevent the worst case scenario.

The media isn't just reporting what medical authorities put out, that is big part of the problem. The media is going around to find doctors that have a belief that is as pessimistic as possible to get soundbites from. Then you have our supposed authorities lying to us like the Surgeon General that claimed masks don't do anything and are not effective... of course the next sentence out of his mouth was we need the masks for the doctors... Well sorry but most people can remember what he said 10 seconds earlier and the only thing you knew for certain was that he was lying. Either the doctors were going to be duped into wearing a mask that meant nothing or the people were being duped into thinking the mask wasn't worth using. So spare me the blind faith in every "medical authority" it is clear that some have agendas which are not based on providing accurate factual information.

 

[wdwmagic]

That modified experience had better come with some major incentives and reduced pricing. The current pricing structure will NOT help bring guests back to parks.

Yeah the cost thing is a whole different issue. The parks have been riding on significant price increases as demand has skyrocketed - but those days are gone for now. I foresee incentives and discounts ahead, along with some major cost cutting measures.

 

[Bartattack]

314 is alot. It really jumped in a couple days.

What we're seeing here in Belgium, is that our numbers double every 2 days. Today we had 240 new infected (tested infected... so the real number is unknown. We have a population of 11 million) . As of 12pm today we are in official 'lockdown'. We had already taken certain measures since last Friday... but today these were expanded to a full lockdown.

I have my trip booked to WDW for the last 2 weeks of August... I'm still hopefull...

Please take it seriously. One of the things that is surprising here, is that most of the people in hospitals ICU right now are between 30 and 50 years.... although the media is always saying that +60 people are the most at risk.

 

[Parker in NYC]

Really depend on if idiots ignore guidelines and keep going out for springbreak, parties, golfing, etc

I'd like to remind those idiots that everyday they "idiot" (using as a verb) they're putting jobs at risk. One more day out there is one more day of unemployment for those affected by company shutdowns. I WISH the media would push that angle. I wanted to scream at a group today on their phones blocking the entrance to our local CVS while people tried to squeeze past.

 

[thomas998]

Actually that's worse. Not only do they risk infecting others without knowing, studies show they shed MORE virus then.

While having 86% not knowing they have it makes it much easier to spread it also means that the 3% mortality rate which is based only on those that die from it divided by the total number known to be infected it far less than 3%... it would be closer to 0.5%. I would take a disease with a mortality rate of 1/2 a percent over one with a 3 percent rate any day of the week.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

I wish they would use the term physical distancing, rather than social distancing. So yes, it would be prudent to remember physical distancing in the future - especially during flu season. Keep distance between yourself and others, especially if either of you is coughing. Cover your cough with something other than your hand - use kleenex or handkerchief (that's what people used before kleenex - just be sure to wash it in hot water when you get home) if you can't reach your elbow, and wash your hands properly & fequently. Don't touch your face. Be careful of those in high risk groups. Be careful about touching public surfaces, and become a bit more of a germaphobe than previously.

We probably will not have to stay at home in the future unless ill., One good thing to come out of this is that we may lessen the incidences and deaths associated with seasonal flu going forward.

And hopefully result in better sick time allowances from employers.

 

[Notes from Neverland]

Italy: "Unfortunately the numbers of the contagion are not decreasing, they continue to be high. Soon we will not be able to give an answer to those who get sick," the governor said.

Italian official warns "soon" they won't be able to assist those who get sick

Gov. Attilio Fontana of Lombardy, Italy, made another appeal to the people: "You must not go out, you have to stay at home."

www.cnn.com

That's why this is so serious. Italy is to the point they literally can't help patients.

 

[monothingie]

Yeah the cost thing is a whole different issue. The parks have been riding on significant price increases as demand has skyrocketed - but those days are gone for now. I foresee incentives and discounts ahead, along with some major cost cutting measures.

They are going to need to be very friendly to AP holders. Those prices are going to need to be dropped or the term of the AP is going to need to be increased, and I don't mean a 13 for 12 offer or even an 18 for 12.

 

[LSLS]

Not sure where you grew up but the Cuban Missile crisis was pretty much considered the coming of the end of the world. My grandparents had a bunker in their back yard designed with radioactive fallout in mind. It's over kill for tornados but that's all its really used for anymore. In the end I think we will find the real facts of just how dangerous this virus really was, but it may be a year or longer before the real facts get sorted from the chicken little squawking that has been coming from the media. I'm guessing it will be much closer to the Hong Kong pandemic of the late 1960's than it will be to the Spanish flu pandemic...

I keep hearing this is coming from the media. Meanwhile, the CDC, WHO, and most major infectious disease experts are the ones that are putting all the warnings out, saying things need to be done ASAP, and generally sparking all the fear. Do you consider doctors and PhDs part of the media?

 

[jrhwdw]

Yeah the cost thing is a whole different issue. The parks have been riding on significant price increases as demand has skyrocketed - but those days are gone for now. I foresee incentives and discounts ahead, along with some major cost cutting measures.

You would think ROTR wouldn't need help with discounts based on we've had boarding groups since start of Dec. IDK if Corona would scare off ROTR fans or not. ESP if CMs are allowed to fix all of ROTR's Problems before reopen...

 

[The Mom]

Question-

If this is spreading like wildfire, why is my neighboring county still at 6 cases, 4 being 1 household?
Shouldn’t we know how many have been tested in that county?

When people are asking for data.. this is why. It is an incomplete picture with more questions than answers.

Spreading depends upon population concentration. China's cities are densely populated, so it spread faster. Looking at the photos from Italy, the affected area has lots of multi-family apartment buildings. The case in WA state grew quickly because of being in an aggregate facility - we just got 4 new cases overnight, all in an adult assisted living facility. The same with NYC, it is spreading more rapidly than in a smaller city/suburban area.

 

[wdisney9000]

The problem is if they don't concentrate on the negative, too many people will take a "See, we will be fine, don't worry about it," approach (see the Clearwater beaches, guy who checked out of hospital, etc.).

Isn't that what happened with swine flu? Nobody remembers it because the media wasn't talking about it 24/7. But in fairness, I do agree they need to talk about the dangers and make sure people have an understanding of how dangerous it is, but there isn't any balance.

I had the news on for over 2 hours this morning at work and not once did they mention anything in regards to recovery rates or even a glimmer of hope. Just straight up fear and now theyre reporting on how "afraid" medical staff are. Just throw some gasoline on the fire.

 

[Andrew C]

It's still alot. 314 out of what 2900? That's 11%.

I imagine they are testing people with symptoms more than others...which is likely why you see a spike.

 

[Jwink]

It's still alot. 314 out of what 2900? That's 11%.

2900 people who have coronavirus symptoms. Once can expect that they’ll be positive. In all honesty the numbers of people who have it in each state is likely exorbitantly higher that the amount tested. Either they think they have a cold or flu, are terrified of the price of care (test is free not the care), or their symptoms are too mild to bother with testing.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

If (that's a big "if" of course) I were sure it was safe/approved by CDC, I'd be willing to go to WDW with a lot of stuff closed. Presumably there'd be lower crowds so I feel like it would be worth it. Plus I'd just be happy to do something fun and normal.

I wish we knew for sure that once you were infected and recovered you were immune and not capable of spreading the virus, because then you'd have people that for sure could be out and about, and even volunteer or be paid to take care of others (deliver food, help out at home, etc.).

Chances are good that if you get infected and recover you will have immunity, but no one knows for how long yet...it could be short-term, or it could be life-long like the chicken pox.

I was talking about that one event in particular - we were all preparing for bombs and missiles to hit - we had a "shelter" in our basement stocked with supplies, just in case. Which would have done zero good in the long run. The same with duck and cover in the schools, although our school basement was considered a shelter - windows and all.

We live relatively close to a nuclear facility. The thing with radioactive fallout is that it falls like dust. When we registered the boys for school we had to choose whether to allow the schools to administer an iodine shot in case of a nuclear emergency. The shot goes in your thyroid and fills it, preventing it from absorbing radiation particles (or at least that's my layman's understanding). We can purchase these shots at the local drugstore.