Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[Clamman73]

It may not be a normal thing for Disney attractions to have a long-term hiatus (unless it’s primeval whirl...), but the vast majority of traditional theme and amusement parks have always been seasonal... so it’s not like this is completely unknown territory in the industry as a whole. Disney widely uses off-the-shelf ride hardware, all of those manufacturers have processes and procedures for restarting. Most attractions will probably get better attention paid to them for the restart then they do in the midst of 16-hour-day operations.

True...I was just wondering about them all the sudden running them with the load of guests on them after being basically mothballed and possibly a different group of CMs running the rides at max capacity all the sudden after being down for a while...but granted some of these rides go down for refurb for a while and it’s not like I’ve had any concern about getting back on a ride the day it‘s back from refurb.

 

[Josh Hendy]

Yup. It takes time to produce and distribute things...I see many on social media talking as if you snap a finger and like magic, new antibody tests will be available everywhere.

Criticizing the authorities for taking 13 days to get around to testing someone with symptoms and getting results ... more than two months after the crisis was recognized and the need for rapid, widespread testing was highlighted by the people responsible ... isn't "talking as if you snap a finger and like magic, new antibody tests will be available everywhere" ... is it.

 

[peter11435]

True...I was just wondering about them all the sudden running them with the load of guests on them after being basically mothballed and possibly a different group of CMs running the rides at max capacity all the sudden after being down for a while...but granted some of these rides go down for refurb for a while and it’s not like I’ve had any concern about getting back on a ride the day it‘s back from refurb.

It won’t be all of sudden. They will be inspected, tested, run, check-listed and everything verified before ever reopening to guests. It will likely be the same or mostly the same cast members running them as before the downtime.

 

[flynnibus]

Yup. It takes time to produce and distribute things...I see many on social media talking as if you snap a finger and like magic, new antibody tests will be available everywhere.

Like I said before... too many people watching TV Shows and thinking its reality... and thus they are now experts and want to let everyone know how they feel. It's really sad... but it's the new style...

 

[flynnibus]

Criticizing the authorities for taking 13 days to get around to testing someone with symptoms and getting results ... more than two months after the crisis was recognized and the need for rapid, widespread testing was highlighted by the people responsible ... isn't "talking as if you snap a finger and like magic, new antibody tests will be available everywhere" ... is it.

It also has zero to do with passing funding bills to deal with hardships and to try to keep the economy from going into a nose dive... but hey, didn't stop you...

 

[Josh Hendy]

I hope that's a facetious post - the money being spent has no correlation to testing.

No ... I was not being facetious when I criticized the authorities for taking 13 days to test someone and get results.

If there is "no correlation" between money spent and test results obtained then there is no point spending any money because it won't make a difference.

Or were you being facetious

 

[TrojanUSC]

It may not be a normal thing for Disney attractions to have a long-term hiatus (unless it’s primeval whirl...), but the vast majority of traditional theme and amusement parks have always been seasonal... so it’s not like this is completely unknown territory in the industry as a whole. Disney widely uses off-the-shelf ride hardware, all of those manufacturers have processes and procedures for restarting. Most attractions will probably get better attention paid to them for the restart then they do in the midst of 16-hour-day operations.

Some rides require about regular cycling, some don't. They're keeping a few dozen operations CMs to cycle attractions as needed to ensure upkeep.

 

[flynnibus]

Wasn't even told until today and I had to clean the area myself. Supervisor slipped and said who it was, and he informed me the the health department is in charge of tracing contacts so they would get ahold of whomever they deemed at risk. This is how they have handled every confirmed case so far. Thank God it's all of our last day for 3 weeks due to no orders, but it's ridiculous we aren't told anything cases until results come in. That was 13 days ago, I've already had to do another shopping trip since then.

Doesn't help that OHSA under this administration is telling employers they are lightening the requirements on this and limiting what they have to do vs the normal convention about contangious diseases at work.

Enforcement Guidance for Recording Cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) | Occupational Safety and Health Administration

www.osha.gov

Under OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements, COVID-19 is a recordable illness, and employers are responsible for recording cases of COVID-19, if: (1) the case is a confirmed case of COVID-19, as defined by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC);[1] (2) the case is work-related as defined by 29 CFR § 1904.5;[2] and (3) the case involves one or more of the general recording criteria set forth in 29 CFR § 1904.7.[3] On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, and the extent of transmission is a rapidly evolving issue.

In areas where there is ongoing community transmission, employers other than those in the healthcare industry, emergency response organizations (e.g., emergency medical, firefighting, and law enforcement services), and correctional institutions may have difficulty making determinations about whether workers who contracted COVID-19 did so due to exposures at work. In light of those difficulties, OSHA is exercising its enforcement discretion in order to provide certainty to the regulated community.

Employers of workers in the healthcare industry, emergency response organizations (e.g., emergency medical, firefighting, and law enforcement services), and correctional institutions must continue to make work-relatedness determinations pursuant to 29 CFR § 1904. Until further notice, however, OSHA will not enforce 29 CFR § 1904 to require other employers to make the same work-relatedness determinations, except where:

1. There is objective evidence that a COVID-19 case may be work-related. This could include, for example, a number of cases developing among workers who work closely together without an alternative explanation; and
2. The evidence was reasonably available to the employer. For purposes of this memorandum, examples of reasonably available evidence include information given to the employer by employees, as well as information that an employer learns regarding its employees’ health and safety in the ordinary course of managing its business and employees.

This enforcement policy will help employers focus their response efforts on implementing good hygiene practices in their workplaces, and otherwise mitigating COVID-19’s effects, rather than on making difficult work-relatedness decisions in circumstances where there is community transmission.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Criticizing the authorities for taking 13 days to get around to testing someone with symptoms and getting results ... more than two months after the crisis was recognized and the need for rapid, widespread testing was highlighted by the people responsible ... isn't "talking as if you snap a finger and like magic, new antibody tests will be available everywhere" ... is it.

WHOA...chill out, dude. I wasn't talking about anyone here.

 

[hopemax]

Interesting. Is there any reason to believe the infection rates are different in the pending tests? If not, then eventhough the raw totals would increase the overall trend wouldn't really change.

Well, the problem is the specifics. This week, care facilities nationwide are showing themselves to still be a problem area. Many areas are seeing higher numbers within this specific communities. Given FL's senior population, they can't afford to have a blind spot here. Delays in test results from care facility patients & employees, put more people at risk, because you can't tell everyone to self-quarantine. Patients still require care, staff still needs to provide care. You need to know, asap, which employees are positive, even though they are pre-symtomatic so they have less opportunity to infect additional employees and patients. Which patients staff need to be super careful with, because they are positive and you don't want to infect yourself.

Micro vs macro again, it doesn't really help the people sitting on a possible hot spot, even if the trend of the community as a whole is improving.

 

[GoofGoof]

Another coworker reported positive today, he had the test done April 3rd after showing symptoms at work March 30th. This is the 4th coworker in Indiana that's had a major lag in testing time.

That’s just frightening. We are never going to get things open and get the economy going with delays like that. We need quick testing and contact tracing. That’s not very easy to do after 12 days of lag.

What I don’t understand is that they are closing 2 drive up testing facilities near me because they lost funding. The federal government pulled funding because they were not being utilized enough yet I still hear so many stories about people being rejected for testing. We should go to the other extreme. Better to over test than under test.

 

[GoofGoof]

Some rides require about regular cycling, some don't. They're keeping a few dozen operations CMs to cycle attractions as needed to ensure upkeep.

I hope they at least let the security guards and landscapers ride RoTR if they cycle it through. Stuck going to work during a pandemic at least you get to ride without waking up at 4am to try for a boarding group....remember when our biggest problem was trying to get a RoTR boarding group...ah, the good old days

 

[ImperfectPixie]

That’s just frightening. We are never going to get things open and get the economy going with delays like that. We need quick testing and contact tracing. That’s not very easy to do after 12 days of lag.

What I don’t understand is that they are closing 2 drive up testing facilities near me because they lost funding. The federal government pulled funding because they were not being utilized enough yet I still hear so many stories about people being rejected for testing. We should go to the other extreme. Better to over test than under test.

My understanding (I could be way off though) is that the drive-up testing facilities use the tests that take a long time to get results from, and they're pushing super hard to increase rapid-testing.

 

[Disney Analyst]

The US now has the highest recorded death toll in the world as of today.

Coronavirus: US death toll overtakes Italy as world's highest https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52258284

 

[MaryJaneP]

Coronavirus is not "The Plague", but it feels like "a plague" that has closed businesses, schools, religious gatherings, other activities, and WDW. We hope things can return to normal, but when?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

A legit question.... if our hospitals are at the point of being over run... why is Mayo Clinic furloughing workers? I don’t think I understand. I’ve heard the hospitals around me are cutting hours too...

 

[The Mom]

Sincere question - how is this post about being “bored” on a cruise ship any different than the posts (different thread) about whether or Orlando is “boring”? Those posts were deleted. Is it because a moderator has joined this conversation?

Because this thread has become closer to a chit chat thread - although still should have some relation to the original title. The issue of reopening DCL and cruise lines in general was raised - which did have some relation to Covid-19. Then it got sidetracked to Cruises in general. I usually step in to shut down a particular back and forth which is off topic -on this particular thread - after a certain number of posts.

However, I try to keep posts on other threads on topic as much as possible. Which is why I shut down and deleted the "Orlando is boring" posts on a thread that had nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not Orlando was boring. Or living in Orlando.

 

[havoc315]

A legit question.... if our hospitals are at the point of being over run... why is Mayo Clinic furloughing workers? I don’t think I understand. I’ve heard the hospitals around me are cutting hours too...

Hospitals and medical providers have cut all "elective" services, and even many truly sick patients are staying home and forgoing treatment. Even surgeries like cardiac bypass are being delayed if possible. "Normal" doctors visits have been reduced to a 30 second tele-conference visit.

So yes, most doctors are actually stuck with far fewer patients right now. Intensive care physician, ER doctors, pulmonary specialists... they all have their hands full. But everyone else is on the other extreme.

 

[Polynesia]

A legit question.... if our hospitals are at the point of being over run... why is Mayo Clinic furloughing workers? I don’t think I understand. I’ve heard the hospitals around me are cutting hours too...

I don’t know that they all are overrun. Even the ship and tent hospitals in New York were very underutilized. Only a few hundred patients were moved to them. When I saw that tonight I was surprised. Maybe someone can explain this.

 

[networkpro]

My understanding (I could be way off though) is that the drive-up testing facilities use the tests that take a long time to get results from, and they're pushing super hard to increase rapid-testing.

The one in Atlanta (Ga Tech Campus) uses the Abbot test kit which gives positive results in 5 minutes, negative in 15. They can only do 1,000 a day, but more locations are in the works to open.