Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[Polynesia]

It is not a concern about the rain for me but extreme lightning, sometimes every ten minutes in the summer months. So on the same day people have been in waiting extreme heat, you would have to close an outdoor attraction and ask everyone to leave the line, or at best an attraction that does not close ask everyone outside to leave the line and close it because they cannot permit have people wait outside with lightning risk. (It already frustrates guests now who are asked to leave and have a line close on them due to lightning in the area but no rain or both.)

You’re right. When it rains everyone runs for indoors. Hopefully with a limited number of guests this can be addressed. There are a lot of challenges each park will face. As a Florida resident there are times I forget what being a tourist involves. I usually go to the parks at opening and get three or four rides in, have lunch and then head home usually before the afternoon storms. Thank you for reminding me

 

[electric]

You’re right. When it rains everyone runs for indoors. Hopefully with a limited number of guests this can be addressed. There are a lot of challenges each park will face. As a Florida resident there are times I forget what being a tourist involves. I usually go to the parks at opening and get three or four rides in, have lunch and then head home usually before the afternoon storms. Thank you for reminding me

Thanks for rubbing it in!!!!!!

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Well. Looks like a lot of people's credit card utilization rate is going to go up. And in turn credit scores will go down.

Credit Cards Start Offering Lower Limits Amid U.S. Outbreak

Major U.S. credit-card issuers are starting to lower customer spending limits as the coronavirus pandemic leaves millions of Americans jobless and struggling to keep up on loans.

www.bloomberg.com

 

[DisneyDebRob]

Here’s a good article on the medicines being taking for high blood pressure and the possible reason that this virus could affect them more.

Blood-pressure drugs are in the crosshairs of COVID-19 research

Scientists are baffled by how the coronavirus attacks the body - killing many patients while barely affecting others.

www.reuters.com

 

[GoofGoof]

Here’s a good article on the medicines being taking for high blood pressure and the possible reason that this virus could affect them more.

Blood-pressure drugs are in the crosshairs of COVID-19 research

Scientists are baffled by how the coronavirus attacks the body - killing many patients while barely affecting others.

www.reuters.com

I saw this article too, but it’s very confusing. Here’s the problem with the numbers. They state: “72% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients 65 or older had hypertension” Taken In a vacuum that may seem like a smoking gun. The problem is in the general population close to 80% of people 65 and older have high blood pressure. So the rate doesn’t really tell us much. High blood pressure could be the reason older people are more severely impacted or it could have little impact. The scientists are also confused as to whether the ACE inhibitor drugs cause the virus to be worse or may actually help. They need to do a lot more actual studies to determine the true impact. It’s also frightening that older people on high blood pressure drugs are going off them out of fear. That can lead to a lot more health problems and it may not even be helpful.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

Well. Looks like a lot of people's credit card utilization rate is going to go up. And in turn credit scores will go down.

Credit Cards Start Offering Lower Limits Amid U.S. Outbreak

Major U.S. credit-card issuers are starting to lower customer spending limits as the coronavirus pandemic leaves millions of Americans jobless and struggling to keep up on loans.

www.bloomberg.com

Got 2 emails the other day on cards I have. Guess we should have seen this coming.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

I saw this article too, but it’s very confusing. Here’s the problem with the numbers. They state: “72% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients 65 or older had hypertension” Taken In a vacuum that may seem like a smoking gun. The problem is in the general population close to 80% of people 65 and older have high blood pressure. So the rate doesn’t really tell us much. High blood pressure could be the reason older people are more severely impacted or it could have little impact. The scientists are also confused as to whether the ACE inhibitor drugs cause the virus to be worse or may actually help. They need to do a lot more actual studies to determine the true impact. It’s also frightening that older people on high blood pressure drugs are going off them out of fear. That can lead to a lot more health problems and it may not even be helpful.

I thought almost the same things you did. I’m guessing because of the older population having generally lower immune systems comes into play along with the drugs? Maybe the stronger immune systems don’t have the same type of reaction?
Either way, as you and the article states, they need a lot more studies.

 

[Horizons '83]

And what is it with gyms?

Just about every national, state, and local guidelines or laws about what can or can't be open specifically mentions gyms.

When you say "essential services only," why mention that gyms are not essential services? No one goes out of their way to say that shoe stores aren't essential services. Or mattress stores. Or arcades. Or bowling alleys.

And even with the new Federal guidelines of "phases," in each phase they mention what the status of gyms are for that phase.

With how often gyms are mentioned right up there with grocery stores and doctors' offices you'd think that Americans would be much more fit than they currently are.

Will WDW give a breakdown of which parks and hotels are going to open each phase as well as whether the fitness center of that hotel will be open, because, you know... gotta let everyone know the status of the gyms.

Sadly, in Georgia, they are opening up Gyms. Bowling Alley's are another head scratcher. As if sticking your fingers into a few holes that haven't been cleaned ever was nasty enough pre-Corona.

 

[Horizons '83]

Got 2 emails the other day on cards I have. Guess we should have seen this coming.

Yep, cut limits and raise interest rates. This happened to me in 2009. My hours got cut, and I was having a difficult time paying off the previous month's bill so I was prepared to roll it over a month and pay the month's interest. Little did I know my rate was changed without me ever knowing from 14% to 28%. I'll never be a CitiBank cardholder ever again.

 

[SierraT]

There is NO chance of Disney opening in May. Zero. This isn't a hurricane. This virus and hurricanes have nothing to do with each other. Someone who does disaster planning does not have skill set to deal with a pandemic. They need experts. You are basically asking a plumber to perform open heart surgery if you think someone who can handle a hurricane can handle this.

Do you work in disaster planning? Have you been listening to the daily conference calls? I suggest you do.

 

[Tink242424]

I know I will die. Thankfully I’ve elected to have my head cryogenically frozen so that at least part of me will live on forever.

My issue was his statement that people’s enjoyment of WDW outweighs the potential of people dying because the they come in contact with someone who has just returned from WDW.

I agree, enjoyment is not a reason to open but definitely supporting the economy is. There is risk no matter what you do from the virus and from life. I just want us as a society to realize that the solutions will be at a local level and then eventually across the nation. The northeast and other hotspots will need to have the lockdown longer due to where we are in the pandemic. WDW may (again MAY not WILL) be able to open earlier for those in Florida and those that are from states & maybe countries where the pandemic is under control. This is where information is key. There may be a need for people who travel anywhere to self-isolate for 14 days when they return.

I'm just tired of those who say everyone needs to stay locked down until a vaccine as that just isn't practical. Let's get the information out, provide guidelines and let people choose for themselves what risks they are willing to take.

 

[Polynesia]

Sadly, in Georgia, they are opening up Gyms. Bowling Alley's are another head scratcher. As if sticking your fingers into a few holes that haven't been cleaned ever was nasty enough pre-Corona.

There’s an easy work around for bowling alleys if they care to do so. You use every other lane and the bowling balls are kept at a central location where you tell them the weight and finger size your need You pick up and return your ball there. Once the ball is returned it’s sanitized. Leaving all of them out only encourages people to switch balls.

 

[Jrb1979]

American governors have botched this from day 1. Lockdowns are not the answer and countries like Sweden are laughing at us right now.

Sweden resisted a lockdown, and its capital Stockholm is expected to reach 'herd immunity' in weeks

Sweden went against the grain by keeping public life as unrestricted as possible when the coronavirus hit. Now, it says its strategy appears to be working.

www.google.com

I don't agree. Its cause people in Sweden follow the guidelines that are laid out. Most of them practice social distancing and will stay home if sick. They also banned groups of more then 50. You know darn well if they didn't lockdown and told people to stay 6 ft apart and stay home if sick most wouldn't do it. They showed that when the flocked the beaches at spring break.

 

[Tink242424]

It really doesn’t matter if it’s legal or not Disney won’t do it. Neither will Universal. You think the execs at Comcast will support banning people from states like PA and NJ (where they all live) from visiting their parks while letting others in? There’s no way Disney gets in the middle of an obviously politically charged debate and ends up alienating half of the northeast where a big chunk of their guests come from. It’s irrelevant what the FL governor wants too. It’s easy for Disney to justify Florida only. If they open to people outside of Florida it will likely be all or none. If the FL government bans people from certain states or regions I don‘t think WDW will be open or just open to FL residents.

Why is it all or nothing? When WDW opens there may be restrictions on who can visit but it won't be WDW making that decision it will be the state or county. Let's say WDW opens June 1st - Then it is VERY LIKELY that FL will have a mandatory quarantine for anyone coming from the NE or a hotspot. That makes it very easy to ensure that those people who are most likely to be carrying the virus are kept out or have made it through the quarentine and are deemed fine to move about society.

We have already seen the quarantine orders for states and I would ABSOLUTELY expect that those bans have no bearing on if WDW opens or not. WDW will open IF & WHEN they decide that they can protect their guests and employees to a reasonable degree AND when they feel like they can make enough money to allow them to be open.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

I agree, enjoyment is not a reason to open but definitely supporting the economy is. There is risk no matter what you do from the virus and from life. I just want us as a society to realize that the solutions will be at a local level and then eventually across the nation. The northeast and other hotspots will need to have the lockdown longer due to where we are in the pandemic. WDW may (again MAY not WILL) be able to open earlier for those in Florida and those that are from states & maybe countries where the pandemic is under control. This is where information is key. There may be a need for people who travel anywhere to self-isolate for 14 days when they return.

I'm just tired of those who say everyone needs to stay locked down until a vaccine as that just isn't practical. Let's get the information out, provide guidelines and let people choose for themselves what risks they are willing to take.

The problem is, guidelines have been provided by the experts. Some states are ignoring them.

 

[celluloid]

[/QUOTE]

There’s an easy work around for bowling alleys if they care to do so. You use every other lane and the bowling balls are kept at a central location where you tell them the weight and finger size your need You pick up and return your ball there. Once the ball is returned it’s sanitized. Leaving all of them out only encourages people to switch balls.

Do not forget shoes will probably have better practices. Bowling Alley lanes themselves would probably be one of the cleaner places for fun in that regard. Because outside shoes are changed by the time they are on the hard floors. Corona is commonly traveled by shoes. Even though it may be transmitted lower that way. People reach down to change their shoes and touch their shoes there and other things.

 

[Horizons '83]

There’s an easy work around for bowling alleys if they care to do so. You use every other lane and the bowling balls are kept at a central location where you tell them the weight and finger size your need You pick up and return your ball there. Once the ball is returned it’s sanitized. Leaving all of them out only encourages people to switch balls.

In a perfect world, that would be great but I don't exactly trust 16 and 17 year olds with sanitizing properly. Also why would Bowling Alleys be given that opportunity to open but many of the nature trails and parks will still be closed?

 

[DisneyCane]

And if there had been no social distancing?

Nobody really knows for sure. Social distancing is a theory that has never been tried before. To really prove it you would have to have various groups from Wuhan style lockdown through doing nothing with similar population densities and demographics. Then the curves would need to be compared. You can't prove a result compared to a mathematical model.

I was moreso illustrating countries with somewhat extreme lockdowns. I don't think the curves would be much different if it was just social distancing/masks but without the restrictions on what business or public recreation is allowed.

 

[Mav]

American governors have botched this from day 1. Lockdowns are not the answer and countries like Sweden are laughing at us right now.

Sweden resisted a lockdown, and its capital Stockholm is expected to reach 'herd immunity' in weeks

Sweden went against the grain by keeping public life as unrestricted as possible when the coronavirus hit. Now, it says its strategy appears to be working.

www.google.com

But at what cost?

Projections state that they'll end up at about 10 to 11k deaths. With a population of about 10 million that would bring them up to the top of the ranking as far as deaths per million inhabitants is concerned

We in Belgium are currently topping that list at around 550 because of the fact that basically every person that dies in a retirement home with at least 1 case of Covid-19 is included in the statistics.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

Redirect Notice

David Hutton: Coronavirus: Is social distancing working?

FACULTY Q&A For the past few weeks, most of us have begun social distancing or staying at home as much as possible to avoid contracting or spreading coronavirus. Still, we are seeing the number of new cases of coronavirus increase significantly day after day. Is social distancing actually wor

news.umich.edu

it works.