Exactly.
We will see how well that works here in MA. We have a universal school mask mandate until October 1. After Oct 1, schools can remove the mask requirement for vaccinated students and staff only, and only if the school reaches an 80% vaccination threshold.
A goal is better than a vague, “maybe someday,” at least.
You make a great point here about a clearly defined goal. It makes it easier to determine success or failure.
Zero chance.
I do look at the comparative data. Which is why I think mask mandates should all be lifted. There is very little, if any, data to suggest that mask mandates make any appreciable difference.
I suppose that's possible, certainly in broader applications. Having mask mandates under controlled environments likely to cause spread (such as airplanes, restaurants, etc), that seems to work. Trying to enforce a mask mandate for the public at large seems difficult.
I see almost no masking in restaurants. People wear them walking to and from their table but don’t wear them at all while seated. It’s just the nature of restaurants. I’m not sure how much good mask mandates are doing in restaurants. The servers do wear them so maybe that helps.
It seems like the idea, in restaurants, is to keep the spread local to the table as much as possible, conceding that you're eating and drinking there so... particulates all over. Moving from door to table or table to restroom allows you to 'spread the wealth' across all the tables in between... so I sort of understand the logic of maskless at the dining table and masked everywhere else.
Yup, got to get to <99 cases per 100k a week to get to orange, <50 cases to yellow which is when masks can come off.
Before removing the mask mandate in May, WDW waited for the positivity rate to stay below 5% for 14 consecutive days, which was the goal set by the mayor of Orange County. No idea if that's the number they'll use this time.
I don't think Disney wants to life the mask mandate and then have to bring it back a few weeks later. Disney might wait until vaccination is approved for kids and parents have had the opportunity to get their kids fully vaccinated. Maybe 2 months after approval?
I agree about them not wanting to make a quick reversal. But Disney didn't wait until vaccines were approved for kids before removing the mask mandate the first time, and I don't think it will factor into their decision the next time either. As a practical matter, many parents have said they wouldn't get their kids vaccinated (not advocating this, just stating what I've read). More likely, WDW will follow whatever metric is set out by the CDC for determining areas of high transmission. But clearly, no one knows for certain.
The 5-11 vaccine approval will likely happen a week or two before orange county gets to moderate community spread according to the CDC.
Telling guests who aren't fully vaccinated to wear masks didn't work. The honor system didn't work. Waiting until parents at least have the opportunity to get their kids vaccinated makes some sense.
Maybe you’re right, who knows? But my best guess is that they won’t wait for kids to be vaccinated.
That was also when numbers were looking really, really good and before delta took hold. I don't think we can compare the current situation to 6 months ago.
