Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[Heelz2315]

I’m not the OP but WDW lifted masks before the new community levels were released by CDC.

True but I have no idea what they use now or of going in the high in the new guidelines will cause them to change

 

[Lilofan]

Does anyone know if there is a clear intention to separate out those in the hospital *because* of COVID from those in the hospital who also happen to test positive from COVID?

I think the really important stats to follow are those in ICU and rate of deaths.

The location I visited has covid treated patients and testing positive in hospital patients in covid isolation wards , ICU has regular ICU and covid ICU wards separate from each other.

 

[Mark52479]

Orange Co is still in the low as of this week. I think by mid June they’ll be headed toward high for sure.

Curious to get your reasoning as to why WDW won’t have any movement of and when they do go into high. I’ve been trying to figure out how they decide what for months now

Well for one thing I am going off the Northeast. They have been in HIGH for about 10 days or so now and no talks of any indoor mask mandates.

Also going off of what some people said on here. Some said they have heard from insiders, that when Disney took away their restrictions, it was under the assumption they most likely would not come back.

Which makes me think it would take something like a Delta for anything to even be considered again.

 

[Nubs70]

Does anyone know if there is a clear intention to separate out those in the hospital *because* of COVID from those in the hospital who also happen to test positive from COVID?

I think the really important stats to follow are those in ICU and rate of deaths.

There is some research being done comparing "all cause mortality"

 

[DisneyCane]

Well for one thing I am going off the Northeast. They have been in HIGH for about 10 days or so now and no talks of any indoor mask mandates.

Also going off of what some people said on here. Some said they have heard from insiders, that when Disney took away their restrictions, it was under the assumption they most likely would not come back.

Which makes me think it would take something like a Delta for anything to even be considered again.

As I've said a few times, the vast majority of people who feel comfortable traveling to a leisure destination have no desire to "mitigate" while on vacation.

I flew on 4 flight legs and was in 4 different airports over the past two weeks. The highest level of masking I saw was maybe 25% at Chicago O'Hare.

The passengers are of course a mix of leisure travel, business travel and essential travel. I'd be willing to bet that very few of the maskers were on leisure trips.

You either feel "safe" going to WDW or you don't at this point for the vast majority of people. Whether you can afford the gas to get there is another question.

 

[mkt]

You either feel "safe" going to WDW or you don't at this point for the vast majority of people.

I don't.

Whether you can afford the gas to get there is another question.

I can.

 

[Joesixtoe]

Omicron itself isn't nearly as potent as Delta or the Original strain. So to say that the vaccines are keeping the hospital rates down I feel is a bit misleading. I'm not saying it doesn't help atleast in the first 3-6 months, but we also don't have a great example of its long-term effectiveness because of Omicron. I personally don't see many unvaccinated hospitalized or in the ICU either because it isn't a powerful strain.

 

[Joesixtoe]

The quest for longer-lasting Covid-19 vaccines

As waves of new coronavirus variants circulate the globe, one thing has become clear: human immunity against the virus fades over time.

www.cnn.com

An article of the many questions surrounding mRNA technology. It isn't trashing the technology, but the article raises questions and desires for better vaccines or additions to them. Also recovered unvaccinated folks had over a years worth of protection. I've seen higher but if CNN says it, I'll take it.

 

[Touchdown]

The quest for longer-lasting Covid-19 vaccines

As waves of new coronavirus variants circulate the globe, one thing has become clear: human immunity against the virus fades over time.

www.cnn.com

An article of the many questions surrounding mRNA technology. It isn't trashing the technology, but the article raises questions and desires for better vaccines or additions to them. Also recovered unvaccinated folks had over a years worth of protection. I've seen higher but if CNN says it, I'll take it.

It’s also just likely a feature of the virus itself, respiratory viruses mutate all the time, it’s why you need a reformulated flu vaccine every year. Thus far, the mRNA vaccines have provided lasting protection from hospitalizations and death. While being disease free would be nice, they are still an overwhelming success so long as this protection remains.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

Well for one thing I am going off the Northeast. They have been in HIGH for about 10 days or so now and no talks of any indoor mask mandates.

Also going off of what some people said on here. Some said they have heard from insiders, that when Disney took away their restrictions, it was under the assumption they most likely would not come back.

Which makes me think it would take something like a Delta for anything to even be considered again.

Not true when it comes to schools. Philadelphia and many are suburb schools, I know of 5 now, are masks back on. With only a week or two left, its a bit weird but what do I know. I also know of a few restaurants that went back to it on their own.
I was in a record store yesterday where as soon as you walked in the owner was squirting hand sanitizer on everyones hands. Havent seen that in over a year but its his store..and a good one so I gladly obliged..and found a few gems.

Masks Are Coming Back on for Philly Students

COVID-19 cases are back on the rise and the Philadelphia School District, like other school districts around the Pennsylvania suburbs, has called for another mask mandate coming this Monday. NBC10’s Deanna Durante was live in Norristown with what families can expect for the rest of the school...

www.nbcphiladelphia.com

 

[Heelz2315]

. Some said they have heard from insiders, that when Disney took away their restrictions, it was under the assumption they most likely would not come back.

I didn't see that, must have missed it. That's good to know if that holds.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

The quest for longer-lasting Covid-19 vaccines

As waves of new coronavirus variants circulate the globe, one thing has become clear: human immunity against the virus fades over time.

www.cnn.com

An article of the many questions surrounding mRNA technology. It isn't trashing the technology, but the article raises questions and desires for better vaccines or additions to them. Also recovered unvaccinated folks had over a years worth of protection. I've seen higher but if CNN says it, I'll take it.

I wouldn't count on having a year of immunity if unvaxxed and infected. I know a family where all were unvaxxed and they caught it twice in under 5 months.

 

[Heppenheimer]

If Pfizer's data pans out, when will little kids get the COVID-19 vaccine?

Pfizer plans to submit new data to the Food and Drug Administration this week, bringing families with young children one step closer to a long-awaited vaccine.

www.npr.org

Because I now have two kids under 5 years of age, I've been waiting for this for a long time. It won't come soon enough for our summer vacation plans this year, but now at least I know they'll have some additional protection if we go to Disneyland and Aulani next year.

 

[Lilofan]

As I've said a few times, the vast majority of people who feel comfortable traveling to a leisure destination have no desire to "mitigate" while on vacation.

I flew on 4 flight legs and was in 4 different airports over the past two weeks. The highest level of masking I saw was maybe 25% at Chicago O'Hare.

The passengers are of course a mix of leisure travel, business travel and essential travel. I'd be willing to bet that very few of the maskers were on leisure trips.

You either feel "safe" going to WDW or you don't at this point for the vast majority of people. Whether you can afford the gas to get there is another question.

If one can afford $400 per night and up daily rate in some WDW resorts, affording gas is probably not even a major concern.

 

[Lilofan]

Orange Co is still in the low as of this week. I think by mid June they’ll be headed toward high for sure.

Curious to get your reasoning as to why WDW won’t have any movement of and when they do go into high. I’ve been trying to figure out how they decide what for months now

Meeting of the minds perhaps ongoing. When decisions are made in companies some just think it was a quick directive in some instances.

 

[drizgirl]

If one can afford $400 per night and up daily rate in some WDW resorts, affording gas is probably not even a major concern.

Lots of people don't pay that much for a WDW resort. Lots of people are making hard decisions about not taking summer trips, including trips to Disney. It's not even entirely about the price of gas. It's about the price of gas on top of rising prices on everything else in daily life.

 

[Lilofan]

Lots of people don't pay that much for a WDW resort. Lots of people are making hard decisions about not taking summer trips, including trips to Disney. It's not even entirely about the price of gas. It's about the price of gas on top of rising prices on everything else in daily life.

I said some resorts that charge $400 and up daily wouldn’t have gasoline as a big concern but you decided to add lots don’t pay that rate. Not even related.

 

[Heppenheimer]

It’s also just likely a feature of the virus itself, respiratory viruses mutate all the time, it’s why you need a reformulated flu vaccine every year. Thus far, the mRNA vaccines have provided lasting protection from hospitalizations and death. While being disease free would be nice, they are still an overwhelming success so long as this protection remains.

With the mRNA vaccines (and for COVID infection in general), the problem isn't that the virus mutates to a point that antibodies can't recognize it (antibodies to the original wild strain can still bind to all the spike protein mutants, just not as tightly), it's that for reasons we still can't completely understand, the antibody response doesn't remain robust for a long duration. This is proving a tough nut to crack.

The causitive mechanism for the lessened efficacy of the vaccines against the later variants probablycomes down to the much stronger binding of the spike protein to the ACE receptor and the much faster replication cycle rather than weaker binding of the antibody to the spike protein.

The biggest effect of the mutations so far has been that some of the monoclonal antibody cocktails that worked against certain strains are no longer effective against omicron and its subvariants. Hopefully, paxlovid, which is turning out to be a wonder drug, doesn't suffer the same problems.

EDIT: One correction... the effect of the spike protein mutations on the antibodies to pre-existing strains isn't that they bind less tightly (for the most part), it's that the mutated spike proteins provide less domains for the antibodies to bind.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Omicron itself isn't nearly as potent as Delta or the Original strain. So to say that the vaccines are keeping the hospital rates down I feel is a bit misleading. I'm not saying it doesn't help atleast in the first 3-6 months, but we also don't have a great example of its long-term effectiveness because of Omicron. I personally don't see many unvaccinated hospitalized or in the ICU either because it isn't a powerful strain.

There's a big difference in hospitalization and death during Omicron between those vaccinated and those not.

Don't try to pass off Omicron as 'weak' even though it may be weaker than Delta, it's still pretty strong and got us over the one million dead mark in the U.S. alone.

The vaccines do make a big difference in hospitalization and death from Omicron.

So, stop your anti-vaxx campaign.

 

[danlb_2000]

Omicron itself isn't nearly as potent as Delta or the Original strain. So to say that the vaccines are keeping the hospital rates down I feel is a bit misleading. I'm not saying it doesn't help atleast in the first 3-6 months, but we also don't have a great example of its long-term effectiveness because of Omicron. I personally don't see many unvaccinated hospitalized or in the ICU either because it isn't a powerful strain.

The efficacy against infections drops in 3 to 6 months, but the efficacy against severe disease has been shown to last longer then that.