Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[DisneyFan32]

And if Delta doesn't kill us all, it will be the Gamma variant. If we make it through that, I have it on good authority from a bus driver that a Martian invasion will come in November, killing us all and really screwing up holiday retail sales.

Gamma variant and Martian invasion in November to killing us all, noooooooo!!! Don't be true. It's a joke right?

 

[GoofGoof]

And if Delta doesn't kill us all, it will be the Gamma variant. If we make it through that, I have it on good authority from a bus driver that a Martian invasion will come in November, killing us all and really screwing up holiday retail sales.

You forgot the lizard people

 

[DisneyFan32]

You forgot the lizard people

Guys is this is a joke about martian invasion, gamma variant and lizard people?

 

[GoofGoof]

Guys is this is a joke about martian invasion, gamma variant and lizard people?

Yes, all a joke.…except maybe the lizard people

 

[Tom P.]

You forgot the lizard people

I have it on good authority that if you travel past Warp 10, you'll turn into a lizard person and make lizard babies.

 

[hopemax]

Yes, all a joke.…except maybe the lizard people

Where do you think the virus came from in the first place? That would totally justify a worldwide conspiracy to hide the origins.

 

[Horizons '83]

Nope, it's definitely in the US:

U.S. officials keep pushing for Covid vaccinations as more transmissible delta variant gains ground

Federal health officials keep pushing for more Americans to get vaccinated as the delta variant accounts for a bigger share of new cases in the United States.

www.cnbc.com

Those who are fully vaccinated appear to be protected against it, however.

I know it’s in the US, but it hasn’t impacted our numbers. No true spike in other words.

 

[Tom P.]

(Was the Warp 10 joke too obscure? )

 

[Lilofan]

I have it on good authority that if you travel past Warp 10, you'll turn into a lizard person and make lizard babies.

And perhaps meet the green eyed Scar and the Evil Queen at MK, lizard characters? Hopefully they got the Moderna shots.

 

[hopemax]

Okay, back to the serious stuff. Pre-print, not yet peer reviewed study, but is being tweeted by Dr. Scott Gottlieb and Andy Slavitt

UK Biobank had brain scans of over 40,000 individuals. They reached out to these individuals and rescanned the brains (average of 37 months between scans) of 782 of these individuals including 394 who had tested positive for COVID. Only 15 of the 394 were sick enough to be hospitalized.

"We identified significant effects of COVID-19 in the brain with a loss of grey matter in the left parahippocampal gyrus, the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the left insula. When looking over the entire cortical surface, these results extended to the anterior cingulate cortex, supramarginal gyrus and temporal pole. We further compared COVID-19 patients who had been hospitalised (n=15) with those who had not (n=379), and while results were not significant, we found comparatively similar findings to the COVID-19 vs control group comparison, with, in addition, a greater loss of grey matter in the cingulate cortex, central nucleus of the amygdala and hippocampal cornu ammonis (all |Z|>3). Our findings thus consistently relate to loss of grey matter in limbic cortical areas directly linked to the primary olfactory and gustatory system."

For us lay people that would be smell and taste. The other areas mentioned are important for cognitive functions and memory retention. Also, in the discussion the authors express concern that these might translate to future dementia type illnesses. They also indicate that this is only a first study, and much more research will be needed into COVID effects on the brain. Essentially their data is a single piece in a large puzzle going forward.

Brain imaging before and after COVID-19 in UK Biobank

There is strong evidence for brain-related pathologies in COVID-19, some of which could be a consequence of viral neurotropism. The vast majority of brain imaging studies so far have focused on qualitative, gross pathology of moderate to severe cases, often carried out on hospitalised patients...

www.medrxiv.org

 

[Lilofan]

Okay, back to the serious stuff. Pre-print, not yet peer reviewed study, but is being tweeted by Dr. Scott Gottlieb and Andy Slavitt

UK Biobank had brain scans of over 40,000 individuals. They reached out to these individuals and rescanned the brains (average of 37 months between scans) of 782 of these individuals including 394 who had tested positive for COVID. Only 15 of the 394 were sick enough to be hospitalized.

"We identified significant effects of COVID-19 in the brain with a loss of grey matter in the left parahippocampal gyrus, the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the left insula. When looking over the entire cortical surface, these results extended to the anterior cingulate cortex, supramarginal gyrus and temporal pole. We further compared COVID-19 patients who had been hospitalised (n=15) with those who had not (n=379), and while results were not significant, we found comparatively similar findings to the COVID-19 vs control group comparison, with, in addition, a greater loss of grey matter in the cingulate cortex, central nucleus of the amygdala and hippocampal cornu ammonis (all |Z|>3). Our findings thus consistently relate to loss of grey matter in limbic cortical areas directly linked to the primary olfactory and gustatory system."

For us lay people that would be smell and taste. The other areas mentioned are important for cognitive functions and memory retention. Also, in the discussion the authors express concern that these might translate to future dementia type illnesses. They also indicate that this is only a first study, and much more research will be needed into COVID effects on the brain. Essentially their data is a single piece in a large puzzle going forward.

Brain imaging before and after COVID-19 in UK Biobank

There is strong evidence for brain-related pathologies in COVID-19, some of which could be a consequence of viral neurotropism. The vast majority of brain imaging studies so far have focused on qualitative, gross pathology of moderate to severe cases, often carried out on hospitalised patients...

www.medrxiv.org

That's good to know. The ones last year I knew who battled covid , two of them with no underlying health conditions dealt with the no smell and taste in addition to being hospitalized. One who my brother knew went into the hospital for an illness, contacted covid and passed away.

 

[seascape]

Later today we get the second full week report from Florida and finally get to see if Florida's numbers are still going down. Regrettably, there are a few states showing increases but still the NY Times is reporting a small decrease today, an average of 12,294 cases or 3.71 cases a day. Depending on Florida's numbers the NY Times could be reporting a rounded 3 cases per 100k tomorrow, only a decrease of 695 cases is needed and Florida could supply most of that. Florida used to be just over 10% of the US cases and now because of weekly reporting is now 13.3% with an average of 1,626. So will Florida be more representative of the US as a whole or like the few states showing increases? Lets hope it's the former and the US reaches 3 per 100k and Florida drops from 8 per 100k to 6 or less.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

I have it on good authority that if you travel past Warp 10, you'll turn into a lizard person and make lizard babies.

Lt.Paris did it in voyager, don’t remember any lizard babies.He was just in all points of the universe at once.
Edit-Excuse the nerd in me coming out in a COVID thread. Continue on.

 

[Figgy1]

Lt.Paris did it in voyager, don’t remember any lizard babies.He was just in all points of the universe at once.
Edit-Excuse the nerd in me coming out in a COVID thread. Continue on.

 

[Disney Experience]

As some here know I am part of Pfizer phase 3 trial . Tuesday I cane down with every covid symptom but loss of taste/smell.
( Male 60 yo( 102 fever since tuesday) have not eaten nor left bed . Wednesday took the better covid test. Got results today.Covid Positive
I was fully vaccinated in September.

 

[Figgy1]

As some here know I am part of Pfizer phase 3 trial . Tuesday I cane down with every covid symptom but loss of taste/smell.
( Male 60 yo( 102 fever since tuesday) have not eaten nor left bed . Wednesday took the better covid test. Got results today.Covid Positive
I was fully vaccinated in September.

Thank you and get well soon

 

[correcaminos]

As some here know I am part of Pfizer phase 3 trial . Tuesday I cane down with every covid symptom but loss of taste/smell.
( Male 60 yo( 102 fever since tuesday) have not eaten nor left bed . Wednesday took the better covid test. Got results today.Covid Positive
I was fully vaccinated in September.

Get well soon! You were still showing antibodies in you blood draw not long ago too, right?

Also hope your self test wasn't horrible (going for a smile). Hope this is short lived for you

 

[havoc315]

Sometimes I like to look back at old posts to see where I was right and where I was wrong. So in early April, I made some summer predictions of the return to normalcy..... So now that we have started summer..

My guess, simply educated guesses...

Likely:
-Attendance capacity increases beginning Memorial Day, 40-50% ball park
-outdoor masking lifted by July. (Likely continue indoors)
-modified FOTLK return (already announced)
-additional QS and TS opening, increasing capacity

Mostly correct so far, except outdoor masking got lifted even faster than anticipated. And I was wrong about indoor masking.

My hopeful list— things that might happen, but I wouldn’t bet on it:
-Early entry starts
-reduced social distancing in queues and transportation
- Epcot Forever and Fantasmic
-full or nearly full capacity TS dining

So far, I was overly optimistic about Fantasmic and early entry.

Unlikely until maybe very late summer:
-Beauty and the Beast, Nemo, Indy stunt show, Etc
-Harmonious and Magic Kingdom fireworks
-buffets
-end of indoor masking
-AP sales

BATB just started re-hiring. No news on Nemo, Indy, etc. So very late summer, at the earliest, seems correct for all three. I was flat out wrong about magic Kingdom fireworks. Indoor masking ended much earlier than I expected, though still have transportation masking. R

I’m almost positive won’t return until September or later:
-widespread character meets
- fastpass (or new system)
-dining plans
-full capacity

So far this looks accurate, but we will see.

 

[havoc315]

And to continue my last post, this post from April... where I was a bit more optimistic, was pretty darn close to where we are now in the swing of summer...

While I generally agree with all that.... I think it understates the degree to which Disney may simply not be in a rush to go back to the old normal.
For example, if this summer has reduced social distancing, masks purely optional (or optional outdoors), and park capacity increased to 50% (which is almost a normal summer crowd)... but still no fireworks, no Fantasmic, no Indy stunt show and no Beauty and the Beast, no fastpasses --- Is that "normal?" in the eyes of a Disney guest. Whether for financial reasons, health reasons or other reasons, Disney is clearly in no rush to bring back a lot of their former operations.
For example, there is no reason they can't bring back Beauty and the Beast right now -- an outdoor stage show that was generally only half-full anyway? Vaccinate the cast members, distance the audience a little bit... it could come back by Memorial Day... but there is clearly no plan to bring it back so soon. (or ever).

 

[havoc315]

As some here know I am part of Pfizer phase 3 trial . Tuesday I cane down with every covid symptom but loss of taste/smell.
( Male 60 yo( 102 fever since tuesday) have not eaten nor left bed . Wednesday took the better covid test. Got results today.Covid Positive
I was fully vaccinated in September.

Feel better soon. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

On a broader note.... I wonder if this was an unavoidable breakthrough case, or whether a 9-month booster may have helped.