Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[nickys]

I know that—you brought it up, and I responded to it parenthetically. It still seems silly to me. What’s the point in requiring masks at all in clubs when you can take them off exactly where spread is most likely to happen, namely on a crowded dance floor?


But pubs are crowded places, with close-set tables and seats at the bar, not to mention people standing around with their drinks. The exception makes a bit more sense in restaurants, where people really do remain at their tables.

ETA:

Covid in Scotland: Drinking at the bar will be allowed in pubs - BBC News

"Vertical drinking" can take place - and nightclub dancing without masks is also set to agreed, says Scotland's national clinical director.

www.bbc.co.uk

I don’t make the rules. And I’m not going anywhere near a pub unless I can be outside and be served outside, for exactly those reasons. As for nightclubs, any that I’ve been to have more people sitting down around the dance floor than actually dancing. But that was some time ago.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Florida's rate of COVID infection, hospitalization, and deaths are all going up. As is the same for most of the U.S. and the world.

The CDC moved Orange county's risk back up from Low to Moderate and back to Substantial. So, don't expect the policy of indoor masks at WDW to go away any time soon.

 

[Bob Harlem]

Florida's Covid Hospitalization is hovering around the same as last week. 2.41% (1403) which is slightly down from a week ago's number (Dec 8) of 2.77% (1477). It's jumping around day to day, but basically remaining flat. It remains among the lowest per capita in the nation currently and the lowest for ICU covid use.

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protect-public.hhs.gov

 

[maui2k7]

Florida's rate of COVID infection, hospitalization, and deaths are all going up. As is the same for most of the U.S. and the world.

The CDC moved Orange county's risk back up from Low to Moderate and back to Substantial. So, don't expect the policy of indoor masks at WDW to go away any time soon.

I would imagine we may be looking at March/April before the mask mandate might be removed at WDW. Disney has been hesitant to significantly relax restrictions again and with Omicron, you can pretty much guarantee they will not be relaxing the mask mandate any time soon. Like it/agree with it or not, they appear to be sticking to CDC/White House guidance.

 

[DisneyFan32]

Florida's rate of COVID infection, hospitalization, and deaths are all going up. As is the same for most of the U.S. and the world.

The CDC moved Orange county's risk back up from Low to Moderate and back to Substantial. So, don't expect the policy of indoor masks at WDW to go away any time soon.

Spring 2022 I guess.

 

[DisneyFan32]

I would imagine we may be looking at March/April before the mask mandate might be removed at WDW. Disney has been hesitant to significantly relax restrictions again and with Omicron, you can pretty much guarantee they will not be relaxing the mask mandate any time soon. Like it/agree with it or not, they appear to be sticking to CDC/White House guidance.

Again, CDC/White House guidance will MIGHT be lifted for good by Spring 2022 if things will be under control. CDC/White House guidance will lift mask mandate for trains, buses and planes for good as Spring 2022 comes if the variants will be less severe.

Also:

Vaccines appear weak at blocking Omicron infection; shots may reduce long COVID burden

 

[DCBaker]

"Pfizer on Tuesday said final analysis of its antiviral Covid-19 pill still showed near 90% efficacy in preventing hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients, and recent lab data suggests the drug retains its effectiveness against the fast-spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The U.S. drugmaker last month said the oral medicine was around 89% effective in preventing hospitalizations or deaths when compared to placebo based on interim results in around 1,200 people. The data disclosed on Tuesday includes an additional 1,000 people.

Nobody in the trial who received the Pfizer treatment died, compared with 12 deaths among placebo recipients.

The Pfizer pills are taken with the older antiviral ritonavir every 12 hours for five days beginning shortly after onset of symptoms. If authorized, the treatment will be sold as Paxlovid.

Pfizer also released early data from a second clinical trial showing that the treatment reduced hospitalizations by around 70% in around 600 standard-risk adults."

"Dolsten said he expects authorization for use in high-risk individuals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory agencies soon. He does not believe an FDA advisory panel meeting will be needed."

Pfizer says Covid-19 pill near 90% effective in final analysis

Pfizer said final analysis of its antiviral Covid-19 pill still showed near 90% efficacy in preventing hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients.

www.cnbc.com

Here's a link to the Pfizer press release -

Pfizer Announces Additional Phase 2/3 Study Results Confirming Robust Efficacy of Novel COVID-19 Oral Antiviral Treatment Candidate in Reducing Risk of Hospitalization or Death | Pfizer

Final data available from all high-risk patients enrolled in EPIC-HR study (n= 2,246) confirmed prior results of interim analysis showing PAXLOVID™ (nirmatrelvir [PF-07321332] tablets and ritonavir tablets) reduced risk of hospitalization or death by 89% (within three days of symptom onset) and...

www.pfizer.com

 

[DisneyCane]

Florida's rate of COVID infection, hospitalization, and deaths are all going up. As is the same for most of the U.S. and the world.

The CDC moved Orange county's risk back up from Low to Moderate and back to Substantial. So, don't expect the policy of indoor masks at WDW to go away any time soon.

It was never really in the low category. The data was all messed up over Thanksgiving weekend. The map showed low but if you clicked on it the data showed 0 cases in the seven day period which was obviously not correct.

The period of the wave seems to be around 5 months in a minimal mitigation, medium vaccination state so whatever the next FL peak will be will likely occur in mid January. The level of the peak will hopefully be much lower than the last one.

This is going to continue for at least another year or two and likely longer with major variants like Omicron (not sure why they don't call it a strain with so many mutations). Get vaccinated if you want to protect yourself and drop the mitigations that provide minimal benefit at best.

 

[MisterPenguin]

It was never really in the low category.

Yes it did. For a short while, almost all of Florida and a lot of other places, especially in the Southeast, were showing 'blue' on the CDC's map.

 

[mmascari]

Yes it did. For a short while, almost all of Florida and a lot of other places, especially in the Southeast, were showing 'blue' on the CDC's map.

Yes, the map was blue, but the data was messed up from the holiday. The reality on the ground was unlikely to actually be blue.

Looking at the data back then, of if you click on the blue counties today, you find stuff like this:

Case Rate per 100k 0.00
Case Rate (last 7 days) 0.00

I agree with @DisneyCane it's unlikely any of those counties really have a 0 case rate. Not just the South either. Clicking through a bunch of random blue on the map and they all showed 0 cases per 100k. Surrounded by the much higher rate, that 0 is very unlikely real.

 

[DisneyFan32]

Yes, the map was blue, but the data was messed up from the holiday. The reality on the ground was unlikely to actually be blue.

Looking at the data back then, of if you click on the blue counties today, you find stuff like this:

Case Rate per 100k 0.00
Case Rate (last 7 days) 0.00

I agree with @DisneyCane it's unlikely any of those counties really have a 0 case rate. Not just the South either. Clicking through a bunch of random blue on the map and they all showed 0 cases per 100k. Surrounded by the much higher rate, that 0 is very unlikely real.

So the pandemic will MOST likely to be longer?

 

[MisterPenguin]

Yes, the map was blue, but the data was messed up from the holiday. The reality on the ground was unlikely to actually be blue.

Looking at the data back then, of if you click on the blue counties today, you find stuff like this:

Case Rate per 100k 0.00
Case Rate (last 7 days) 0.00

I agree with @DisneyCane it's unlikely any of those counties really have a 0 case rate. Not just the South either. Clicking through a bunch of random blue on the map and they all showed 0 cases per 100k. Surrounded by the much higher rate, that 0 is very unlikely real.

I'm finding it hard to believe that over the course of months watching the CDC map and seeing most of FL and the Southeast week-by-week go from Substantial and then to Moderate, that they didn't then go on to hit Low for a short while, without blaming it on Thanksgiving data.

That would mean that the Thanksgiving data was all wrong but just for a region of the country. How is that even possible?

Why didn't the other states also drop down a level in the same way the Southeastern states did?

 

[mmascari]

drop the mitigations that provide minimal benefit at best.

I think we have different definitions of minimal. Especially compared to the cost vs benefit of a particular mitigation.

Missouri health department found mask mandates work, but didn’t make findings public

Jurisdictions with mask mandates averaged 15.8 cases per day for every 100,000 residents, compared to 21.7 in unmasked communities.

news.stlpublicradio.org

The statewide data shows that, from the end of April to the end of October, jurisdictions with mask mandates experienced an average of 15.8 cases per day for every 100,000 residents compared to 21.7 cases per day for every 100,000 residents in unmasked communities.

An over 5 point swing seems larger than minimal. When spread is higher, that swing translates to a huge raw number. If spread was low enough, say already under 8/100K, it may not have the same impact and actually be minimal.

Beyond masking, is anyone really doing any other mitigations anymore? Maybe a little distance in restaurants. But, I have noticed anything else still ongoing, and nothing is closed at all, at least where I am.

 

[DisneyCane]

Yes it did. For a short while, almost all of Florida and a lot of other places, especially in the Southeast, were showing 'blue' on the CDC's map.

See the post by @mmascari the data was not valid when the map showed low spread. It is impossible that there were zero cases for a week in any county, let alone one that had over 40 per 100k just prior.

 

[correcaminos]

I think we have different definitions of minimal. Especially compared to the cost vs benefit of a particular mitigation.

Missouri health department found mask mandates work, but didn’t make findings public

Jurisdictions with mask mandates averaged 15.8 cases per day for every 100,000 residents, compared to 21.7 in unmasked communities.

news.stlpublicradio.org

An over 5 point swing seems larger than minimal. When spread is higher, that swing translates to a huge raw number. If spread was low enough, say already under 8/100K, it may not have the same impact and actually be minimal.

Beyond masking, is anyone really doing any other mitigations anymore? Maybe a little distance in restaurants. But, I have noticed anything else still ongoing, and nothing is closed at all, at least where I am.

My stylist still have spaced clients and reduced chairs in use. My church still has distanced seating. Schools still have strict rules on eating lunch. Distancing during concerts. Not much else I see. But masks almost everywhere which I'm sure some think is oppressive.

 

[mmascari]

I'm finding it hard to believe that over the course of months watching the CDC map and seeing most of FL and the Southeast week-by-week go from Substantial and then to Moderate, that they didn't then go on to hit Low for a short while, without blaming it on Thanksgiving data.

That would mean that the Thanksgiving data was all wrong but just for a region of the country. How is that even possible?

Why didn't the other states also drop down a level in the same way the Southeastern states did?

There was a lot of patchwork updates throughout the country. Some messed up for 1 day, some 2, some 3 or 4. I suspect it was very regional and county specific. We know the FL numbers update and change for at least the last 4 weeks in the past all the time. Sometimes up, sometimes down. An extra holiday disruption doesn't sound far fetched.

Looking at the map right now, MD has lots of blue and yellow. But, I wouldn't believe any of it.

Md. health department faces second week of disruption from cyberattack

https://wapo.st/3ytdg63

 

[dreday3]

"Pfizer on Tuesday said final analysis of its antiviral Covid-19 pill still showed near 90% efficacy in preventing hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients, and recent lab data suggests the drug retains its effectiveness against the fast-spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The U.S. drugmaker last month said the oral medicine was around 89% effective in preventing hospitalizations or deaths when compared to placebo based on interim results in around 1,200 people. The data disclosed on Tuesday includes an additional 1,000 people.

Nobody in the trial who received the Pfizer treatment died, compared with 12 deaths among placebo recipients.

The Pfizer pills are taken with the older antiviral ritonavir every 12 hours for five days beginning shortly after onset of symptoms. If authorized, the treatment will be sold as Paxlovid.

Pfizer also released early data from a second clinical trial showing that the treatment reduced hospitalizations by around 70% in around 600 standard-risk adults."

"Dolsten said he expects authorization for use in high-risk individuals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory agencies soon. He does not believe an FDA advisory panel meeting will be needed."

Pfizer says Covid-19 pill near 90% effective in final analysis

Pfizer said final analysis of its antiviral Covid-19 pill still showed near 90% efficacy in preventing hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients.

www.cnbc.com

Here's a link to the Pfizer press release -

Pfizer Announces Additional Phase 2/3 Study Results Confirming Robust Efficacy of Novel COVID-19 Oral Antiviral Treatment Candidate in Reducing Risk of Hospitalization or Death | Pfizer

Final data available from all high-risk patients enrolled in EPIC-HR study (n= 2,246) confirmed prior results of interim analysis showing PAXLOVID™ (nirmatrelvir [PF-07321332] tablets and ritonavir tablets) reduced risk of hospitalization or death by 89% (within three days of symptom onset) and...

www.pfizer.com

This is great news today!

 

[Disstevefan1]

I'm finding it hard to believe that over the course of months watching the CDC map and seeing most of FL and the Southeast week-by-week go from Substantial and then to Moderate, that they didn't then go on to hit Low for a short while, without blaming it on Thanksgiving data.

That would mean that the Thanksgiving data was all wrong but just for a region of the country. How is that even possible?

Why didn't the other states also drop down a level in the same way the Southeastern states did?

Frankly, from day one I never trusted the case numbers in either direction. I think case numbers are worthless.
We know there are countless reporting errors; missing days, days, weeks counted twice, so many data collecting, reporting errors.

Plus, how many got it and had no symptoms, mild or even severe symptoms, got through it at home and were never tested and therefore never counted.

To me, the only measure of any value is the Emergency Room capacity and the open beds in the hospitals.

The original two week shutdown was to make sure hospitals were not overloaded.

 

[Communicora]

The original two week shutdown was to make sure hospitals were not overloaded.

Hospitals are still overloaded in many areas.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

I think we have different definitions of minimal. Especially compared to the cost vs benefit of a particular mitigation.

Missouri health department found mask mandates work, but didn’t make findings public

Jurisdictions with mask mandates averaged 15.8 cases per day for every 100,000 residents, compared to 21.7 in unmasked communities.

news.stlpublicradio.org

An over 5 point swing seems larger than minimal. When spread is higher, that swing translates to a huge raw number. If spread was low enough, say already under 8/100K, it may not have the same impact and actually be minimal.

Beyond masking, is anyone really doing any other mitigations anymore? Maybe a little distance in restaurants. But, I have noticed anything else still ongoing, and nothing is closed at all, at least where I am.

I don't know how anyone could call a 27% reduction in cases "minimal" without it being spin to justify their pre-conceived position on the subject.