threvester
Well-Known Member
You are right ...i am a habitual liar
..bye
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News Disney mask policy at Walt Disney World theme parks
- Thread starter wdwmagic
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..bye
correcaminos
Well-Known Member
Um not what I was saying at all. Really and truly I don't play games like that..... I'm sorry I said anything that could be taken like that. Just shocked they cram strangers in when they weren't before (and wasn't doing social distancing at all)
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I recently returned from a solo trip. I was sat with two adults on Remi. There were three of us in the same row. Same for Navi, RoTR , Slinky, etc.
Feel free to again mention how it never happened to you personally and that you are shocked that it happens. We get it. But it does happen.
On a side note: On Remi, I was sat next to an older couple probly in their 70s. The man had pulled his mask down after our mouse pulled out of the loading area (which didn't bother me at all). Several times during the ride I noticed him with the biggest smile on his face. He looked like a big kid just having a great time. It was really heart warming.
It reminded me how much the masks have taken away from those moments at WDW. I am glad he didn't keep his mask up because if he had, I wouldn't have seen his smile, which in turn made me smile.
correcaminos
Well-Known Member
When talking with a tour guide in June they were still not allowed to ride and had to wear masks indoors and out. The guide said they missed seeing reactions
donsullivan
Premium Member
In the past, the positivity rate in Central Florida needed to be below 5% before local government would back away from their mask recommendations. They are not allowed to mandate masks in the state but large numbers of business use these thresholds as part of their decisions on mask requirements. This is their latest update:
While certainly trending downward we’re not even close to the 5% threshold that was used the last time local governernment pulled back on mask recommendations. This number also reflects on the number of cast members that are testing positive and having to call out sick, thus impacting park staffing. This info, combined with CDC guidance will drive when changes in mask policies are implemented.
In the end, it doesn’t matter what things look like in your local community, it’s how things are here in Central Florida that matters for policy changes for Disney, Universal and all others.
While certainly trending downward we’re not even close to the 5% threshold that was used the last time local governernment pulled back on mask recommendations. This number also reflects on the number of cast members that are testing positive and having to call out sick, thus impacting park staffing. This info, combined with CDC guidance will drive when changes in mask policies are implemented.
In the end, it doesn’t matter what things look like in your local community, it’s how things are here in Central Florida that matters for policy changes for Disney, Universal and all others.
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correcaminos
Well-Known Member
Tbh I really don't care much for positivity rates alone. I found it a hard metric to want to follow even if all tests were reported. Which now they are not with at home tests.
donsullivan
Premium Member
My point in posting this is simply to remind everyone that it doesn’t matter what you or anyone specifically believes, these are the health professionals who provide the data and the metrics that are a key input to these masking decisions.
correcaminos
Well-Known Member
That part is true that we have to look at regions. Orange county cases are quite high. My area is too but we're still between half and a third as many cases per 100k. That's one metric I like.
I only brought up positivity because when doing home tests, we do not report negatives here. I have had 2 we did on my kid last month (one was after exposure and the other for a stuffy nose after a cold weather camp out). If people cannot report negatives - which we cannot here as far as I see - then positivity is messed up. Florida cases are improving at least and hoping for lower cases when our next trip occurs.
Chi84
Premium Member
I think what people are getting at is that the health professionals may well change the metrics based on new data that is coming out about the latest variant. I believe the CDC metrics that you're referring to were adopted in July 2021 and haven't been revised in over 6 months despite the fact that the new variant is behaving very differently from previous ones. They have already changed the quarantine periods and have determined cloth masks do not work as well with omicron.
The CDC does move with glacial speed, which is understandable for a health organization, but people do have a right to expect them to reconsider their recommendations along with the changing data. Positivity rates are "messed up" as noted by @helenabear.
Saw a post on Disney Fanatic on social media that WDW has stopped selling masks, both in the parks and online. Not sure if that's true. If it is, they may be preparing to drop it.
www.disneyfanatic.com
Disney Stops Selling Masks as COVID Carries On : DisneyFanatic.com
As the COVID pandemic carries on, it looks like Disney has stopped its mask sales with a lack of masks in Parks and online.
www.disneyfanatic.com
It may also be because it's hard to decorate the N95 masks?Saw a post on Disney Fanatic on social media that WDW has stopped selling masks, both in the parks and online. Not sure if that's true. If it is, they may be preparing to drop it.
Disney Stops Selling Masks as COVID Carries On : DisneyFanatic.com
As the COVID pandemic carries on, it looks like Disney has stopped its mask sales with a lack of masks in Parks and online.
correcaminos
Well-Known Member
Or supply issues that cause profits on these not to be worth it. Lots of reasons to stop selling.
donsullivan
Premium Member
At least in the Central Florida region, the number of people getting tested at the organized testing facilities is a large enough sampling to be a statistically accurate representation of the current state of things in the region. Yes, reporting of negatives is low for home testing- it’s also low for positives.
correcaminos
Well-Known Member
Not sure I agree, but hear me out. I can be totally wrong about this as I am using what I'm seeing reported on neighborhood sites/conversations. Locally more people testing do not want to wait in the long lines so they find a non-telemed test at home to check. Many rule out covid right then and there. I mean I did myself at home. No need to go further. Only those with negatives who are very convinced they were positive are going in. Or those who tested positive with non-telemed who need the proof are going in for verified testing. The ones who are traveling are the only other ones going in person now.
Again I could be wrong but at home testing and total lack of reporting doesn't help the accuracy. I know more at home tests - which do report hopefully - than drive in because they are a pain to get into. Then days like today with snow and ice, I expect people to stay as close to home as possible.
Again can be wrong, but just thinking none of this helps rates.
TehPuddingMan
Well-Known Member
The is is accurate. Most people test at home and only do PCR if they’re positive and need proof for work/school or convinced they have Covid. This makes the positive percentage totally useless.
donsullivan
Premium Member
Everything that is not part of the organized testing facilities and the associated statical data that comes from there is just speculation, and ‘I think’ and anecdotal data elements. The only concrete data we have that has been consistently recorded with the same methods for nearly 2 years has been from the local department of health. I prefer to follow the data of the professionals, not what ‘neighbors’ are saying and speculations. This is also one of the inputs the theme park operators use in their decision making process. And in the end, how this impacts the mask requirements of the theme park operators is what this thread is about, not what’s happening in a random county anywhere else in the US.
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Chi84
Premium Member
What you're saying about testing is absolutely true, and it's what I've been hearing from health officials addressing mitigation requirements where I live. Just because something cannot be measured accurately doesn't mean it doesn't exist and should be ignored. It just makes the decision-making process more difficult.
Things have changed significantly with omicron, and health officials are concentrating much more on hospitalizations and severe cases than positivity rates. They are also stressing that a significant number of hospital patients who tested positive for COVID are asymptomatic and in the hospital for reasons unrelated to COVID, which was rarely the case with the earlier variants. I expect that theme park operators will consider the input of health officials when making their decisions, but I wouldn't be surprised if the input changes based on new data.
correcaminos
Well-Known Member
I'm not trying to be a naysayers or not to follow testing facilities but the reality is we didn't have at home testing when this started. I see a much larger shift to at home testing as well as testing sites closed and made wait times hard. This is not a "covid doesn't exist" type post. In fact if anyone looks I'm on the other side of that for sure.
At home testing does happen and it does mess with these rates that may or may not be an indication of anything at this point. Like I said we had 2 negatives in the last month in my house. We cannot report these. This isn't anecdotal either, that's a fact.
While the OC was using this metric for masks, It was ditched - and knowing our postivity numbers are not as cut and dry as they used to be it could be a factor. Case numbers didn't seem to matter. Or they dropped because they gave up... who knows.
I never have had an issue focusing on hospitalization and deaths. Friends working in hospitals are reporting similar with asymptomatic positives. They test on admission and if positive they do deal with them differently.
I feel like we're veering though so will say no one knows what metrics Disney will use. I wouldn't be shocked if they keep changing though.
CntrlFlPete
Well-Known Member
Saw a post on Disney Fanatic on social media that WDW has stopped selling masks, both in the parks and online. Not sure if that's true. If it is, they may be preparing to drop it.
Disney Stops Selling Masks as COVID Carries On : DisneyFanatic.com
As the COVID pandemic carries on, it looks like Disney has stopped its mask sales with a lack of masks in Parks and online.
I saw them selling face coverings last week (they had been out the time prior I had been in the park) so this must have just recently happened.
just as an FYI, there are at least two counties in Central FL that test wastewater as a way to know how prevalent the virus is in the community -- they seem to know well ahead of 'positivity rate'. When Delta was going around, they knew two weeks ahead of time when the hospitals would see their increase/decreases.
donsullivan
Premium Member
Yeah, the wastewater testing data eliminates any bias some may believe exists between health department reported data and ‘home testing’. It covers everyone in the region even if they do not participate in any testing method at all.
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