News Disneyland modifies mask policy - UPDATE 7/28/21

[TP2000]

You will be unlikely to die, and have less - but not zero - chance of being hospitalized. Right now, in my hot spot, about 20% of hospital patients have been fully vaccinated. There are even more who are sick at home, just feeling miserable and hoping that they will not get sick enough to have to be hospitalized. My son is one of them.

None of us have a zero chance of anything in this life.

I've spoken with two of my doctors about this; my very dedicated VA doctor, and a personal physician at Mission Hospital in OC. Both assure me that it almost always takes a co-morbidity to cause Covid hospitalization. And because I lost some weight a few years ago on the urging of my VA doctor, I currently have no co-morbidities. While I've slowed down in recent years, I am in very good health for my age. Again, I have no co-morbidity.

I understand that there are some people whose co-morbidity is through no fault of their own (cancer, genetic disease, etc.), but many co-morbidities are caused by America's obesity problem or previous love of cigarettes (heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, obesity itself).

I'm going to rely on science and the medical professionals who tell me that Covid hospitalizations in 2021 are almost always caused by unvaccinated people with co-morbidities.

I am vaccinated, and I have no co-morbidity. So I'm not afraid.

 

[TP2000]

COVID is everywhere. I don't think anyone would be surprised that visiting a crowded theme park poses a degree of risk.

People are either okay with that risk, or they aren't. The fact there are COVID cases amongst staff there is expected.

It's bad publicity, because things that happen at Disneyland get attention, even if they're the same things happening everywhere. For me, this would have zero impact on any decision to visit.

No kidding.

19,000 people work at Disneyland currently. Of course some (hundreds at least, a thousand or more perhaps) are going to test positive for Covid. Just like thousands of Disneyland employees get the Flu during bad Flu seasons. But this time, Disneyland has on-site testing with rapid response to identify Covid, thus the positive test data that never existed before with Flu seasons. Who cared about the Flu? You felt lousy for days and called in sick while Disneyland went on without you, and no TV station or Twitter account ever cared.

Does Mr. Koenig think the real world magically ends at the employee entrance on Harbor Blvd.?

Anyone who can't understand the basic logistics and realities of a single-site employer with tens of thousands of employees deserves to live in fear. They are what keep the dying TV networks and their fear programming in business.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Disney absolutely doesn’t want any stories about spread anywhere related to the parks, regardless of their obviousness. The entire industry jumped on the claim of being “safe,” a lot based on Orange County, Florida saying they had not traced cases to the parks even though cases far outpaced the county’s ability to contact trace.

 

[SoCalDisneyLover]

If you dont go at all your chance of infection is zero.

If I don't leave my house at all, my chance of infection is zero. I acted like that last year.

Being fully vaccinated, I'm willing to take chances. If Delta wasn't spreading like wildfire, I'd feel more comfortable going to Knott's every weekend for a full day, like I had been doing.

I heard someone give a good analogy. It's raining outside. The vaccine is like an umbrella, which allows you to go outside and not get wet. But if there's wind and the rain is a downpour, coming at you sideways, even an umbrella won't be enough to keep you from getting wet.

And approaching 200,000 Daily New Cases, that's where we're at right now. I feel like if I stay away from lines, rides and indoor attractions, I can hopefully be safe enjoying some of the outdoor entertainment, while having some meals.

 

[TP2000]

If I don't leave my house at all, my chance of infection is zero. I acted like that last year.

Being fully vaccinated, I'm willing to take chances. If Delta wasn't spreading like wildfire, I'd feel more comfortable going to Knott's every weekend for a full day, like I had been doing.

I heard someone give a good analogy. It's raining outside. The vaccine is like an umbrella, which allows you to go outside and not get wet. But if there's wind and the rain is a downpour, coming at you sideways, even an umbrella won't be enough to keep you from getting wet.

And approaching 200,000 Daily New Cases, that's where we're at right now. I feel like if I stay away from lines, rides and indoor attractions, I can hopefully be safe enjoying some of the outdoor entertainment, while having some meals.

200,000 daily new cases in a country of 330 Million where over half are vaccinated and with a very advanced medical industry and testing available at every WalMart or supermarket in the nation.

Let's dial it back to just SoCal, since Knott's Berry Farm is a regional theme park aimed at the SoCal audience. 330 Million Americans are not going to Knott's Berry Farm this weekend, but 10,000 or 15,000 folks from SoCal will go. Yesterday in LA County (population 10.2 Million) there were 74,000 Covid tests conducted and 3,865 positive Covid cases reported from those tests.

3,865 is 0.03% of the population of LA County. Three hundredths of one percent. Times that by 14 days of testing, and that's 0.4% of the population of LA County has Covid currently. Double it just for fun! 0.8% of LA County probably has Covid right now. Eight tenths of one percent.

Yesterday in Orange County (population 3.3 Million) there were 933 positive Covid tests. Conveniently, also 0.03% of the population in OC, same as in LA.

Are you vaccinated? If so, go to Knott's Berry Farm this weekend. It will be fun!

LA County Daily COVID-19 Data - LA County Department of Public Health

www.publichealth.lacounty.gov

COVID-19 Case Counts and Testing Figures | Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

.casecount-total { color: #ffffff; background-color: #1b3d6d; border-color: #1b3d6d; } .casecount-total-caption { font-style: italic; color: #636466; } .casecount-btn-panels { padding: 0 !important; border-top-left-radius: 15px !important; border-top-right-radius: 15px !important...

occovid19.ochealthinfo.com

 

[TP2000]

Hey gang, it's just after 4 o'clock on a Friday in August. The bureaucrats in OC and San Diego County all went home for the weekend yesterday afternoon. And Sacramento shut down for the weekend yesterday after lunch.

So far, Los Angeles County (Universal Studios, Six Flags) is still the only county in SoCal with a mask mandate. Orange County (Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm) and San Diego County (Sea World, Legoland, San Diego Zoo) have no mask mandates.

Get vaccinated! Lose some weight! Stop smoking! Wear your seatbelt! Then have some fun! Happy Summer Friday!

 

[1HAPPYGHOSTHOST]

Hey gang, it's just after 4 o'clock on a Friday in August. The bureaucrats in OC and San Diego County all went home for the weekend yesterday afternoon. And Sacramento shut down for the weekend yesterday after lunch.

So far, Los Angeles County (Universal Studios, Six Flags) is still the only county in SoCal with a mask mandate. Orange County (Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm) and San Diego County (Sea World, Legoland, San Diego Zoo) have no mask mandates.

Get vaccinated! Lose some weight! Stop smoking! Wear your seatbelt! Then have some fun! Happy Summer Friday!

God I have missed these posts

 

[CaptinEO]

Hey gang, it's just after 4 o'clock on a Friday in August. The bureaucrats in OC and San Diego County all went home for the weekend yesterday afternoon. And Sacramento shut down for the weekend yesterday after lunch.

So far, Los Angeles County (Universal Studios, Six Flags) is still the only county in SoCal with a mask mandate. Orange County (Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm) and San Diego County (Sea World, Legoland, San Diego Zoo) have no mask mandates.

Get vaccinated! Lose some weight! Stop smoking! Wear your seatbelt! Then have some fun! Happy Summer Friday!

The one saving grace from the pandemic and Disneyland being closed in 2020 was TP2000s excellent Friday aftenoon writeups.

 

[Tamandua]

I have to think that Florida is more honest with with their statistics than California. Here in Los Angeles where cases are rising sharply despite continued restrictions, they've been claiming virtually no vaccinated hospitalizations, and they only now are saying that about 10% of hospitalizations are vaccinated people. It's becoming harder and harder to believe some of the statistics when they don't line up with data from other states and other countries. Look what is happening in Israel:

To head off the outbreak and prevent larger numbers of vaccinated Israelis falling ill, Israel last month became one of the first countries to begin offering a third Pfizer dose to people 60 years old and over—without any clinical evidence that it would be effective. The decision came after preliminary data made available to medical experts advising Israel’s government showed that protection against severe illness for vaccinated people in the age group had dropped to 81% from 97% in mid-April.

Israel, Widely Vaccinated, Suffers Another Covid-19 Surge

The Israeli government is delivering more booster shots and restoring mask and quarantine mandates as the Delta variant drives up hospitalizations.

www.wsj.com

That's a huge drop in the expected efficacy of vaccines for the most vulnerable. It's also true that the CDC just revised their daily covid case totals for Florida for last Sunday from 28,000 to 19,000 after the state challenged the data as false. The newly revised number is still higher than what Florida's department of health claims.

Whatever the real numbers are (as you can't really trust any of it at this point), the number of deaths is way down in relation to cases. I think it's time to stop seeing covid as the threat it was and consider it more like the flu. The flu can still kill you, but almost always in combination with other serious factors. Maybe we should focus more on fixing issues like obesity instead of trying to get rid of a ubiquitous virus. That's impossible, but healthier living is possible.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I have to think that Florida is more honest with with their statistics than California. Here in Los Angeles where cases are rising sharply despite continued restrictions, they've been claiming virtually no vaccinated hospitalizations, and they only now are saying that about 10% of hospitalizations are vaccinated people. It's becoming harder and harder to believe some of the statistics when they don't line up with data from other states and other countries. Look what is happening in Israel:

To head off the outbreak and prevent larger numbers of vaccinated Israelis falling ill, Israel last month became one of the first countries to begin offering a third Pfizer dose to people 60 years old and over—without any clinical evidence that it would be effective. The decision came after preliminary data made available to medical experts advising Israel’s government showed that protection against severe illness for vaccinated people in the age group had dropped to 81% from 97% in mid-April.

Israel, Widely Vaccinated, Suffers Another Covid-19 Surge

The Israeli government is delivering more booster shots and restoring mask and quarantine mandates as the Delta variant drives up hospitalizations.

www.wsj.com

That's a huge drop in the expected efficacy of vaccines for the most vulnerable. It's also true that the CDC just revised their daily covid case totals for Florida for last Sunday from 28,000 to 19,000 after the state challenged the data as false. The newly revised number is still higher than what Florida's department of health claims.

Whatever the real numbers are (as you can't really trust any of it at this point), the number of deaths is way down in relation to cases. I think it's time to stop seeing covid as the threat it was and consider it more like the flu. The flu can still kill you, but almost always in combination with other serious factors. Maybe we should focus more on fixing issues like obesity instead of trying to get rid of a ubiquitous virus. That's impossible, but healthier living is possible.

It’s not a huge drop given it is still an astounding efficacy.

Florida decided to change how they report numbers and they have been changing everything.

And the classic bunk of “it’s just like the flu” even though hospitals don’t cancel highly profitable elective surgeries for weeks, especially in the summer, to deal with flu patients as they have been doing in Florida.

 

[Jefro]

Hey gang, it's just after 4 o'clock on a Friday in August. The bureaucrats in OC and San Diego County all went home for the weekend yesterday afternoon. And Sacramento shut down for the weekend yesterday after lunch.

So far, Los Angeles County (Universal Studios, Six Flags) is still the only county in SoCal with a mask mandate. Orange County (Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm) and San Diego County (Sea World, Legoland, San Diego Zoo) have no mask mandates.

Get vaccinated! Lose some weight! Stop smoking! Wear your seatbelt! Then have some fun! Happy Summer Friday!

Always appreciate the balance of your posts. Don't always agree, but who cares? We don't have to agree on everything people. Except on cake or pie.

The only acceptable answer is pie

Anyway, it's a pleasure to see interspersed through the same ol same ol on this thread.

Have a good weekend

 

[TP2000]

I was looking at the Register website to see if I'm missing any big news up in OC this summer (Answer: Nope), and found the Register's Covid vaccine tracker. Just interesting info to have in the back of your mind, as of Friday, August 13th...

California = 53.4% Fully Vaccinated
Los Angeles County = 54.5% Fully Vaccinated
Orange County = 56.5% Fully Vaccinated
San Diego County = 58.7% Fully Vaccinated

Also, this Delta variant seems to have leveled off in most SoCal counties, and case loads are declining in the past week. The running 7 day average of confirmed cases has declined in OC, LA, and San Diego as of yesterday. This could only be a short plateau or false drop, but the 7 day average takes some doing to see a decline like that. Obviously, with high vaccination rates and 18 months of virus spread in SoCal, the Delta variant seems to be running out of people to get to.

Don't worry though friends, Lambda is on the way. And then there's the fall Rush weeks at local colleges (Go Hornets!) that will have the entire Greek alphabet at their disposal!

Orange County coronavirus tracker: Cases, vaccines, maps and more

Orange County coronavirus tracker: Cases, vaccines, maps and more The coronavirus pandemic continues to take a toll across Orange County. Here is the latest information available from the county an…

www.ocregister.com

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

Having spent 1-3 months a year for seven years doing research in Costa Rica and having many colleagues in OVSICORI (sort of their equivalent of USGS), hearing y'all go on about Costa Rica is amusing. Volcan Turrialba is the one that has the Costa Rican volcanologists spooked the most. I haven't visited in several years but last time I did we were touring students around Volcan Irazu and got gassed by a plume that blew over from Turrialba. The ruins in Cartago are spectacular and still have shifted stones from earthquake damage at the base of the foundations. The massive basilica in Cartago has beautiful stained glasswork and the sacred spring (that is undoubtedly tapped into the local shallow 'iffy' groundwater source) is a great sight to see. The basilica is founded on the site of La Negrita (little black one) which is a story of a local miracle and the waters from the spring are reported to have healing powers. I got my grandma a bonafide green plastic La Negrita bottle and filled it with holy water years ago as a gift for her.

The country is beautiful and the people are fantastic. From the coast to the lush rainforests, amazing culture. If you're nearby the University in San Pedro be sure to hit up Il Pomodoro for some great pizza. It was the first restaurant/bar in the county to have beer on tap.

 

[TP2000]

Having spent 1-3 months a year for seven years doing research in Costa Rica and having many colleagues in OVSICORI (sort of their equivalent of USGS), hearing y'all go on about Costa Rica is amusing. Volcan Turrialba is the one that has the Costa Rican volcanologists spooked the most. I haven't visited in several years but last time I did we were touring students around Volcan Irazu and got gassed by a plume that blew over from Turrialba. The ruins in Cartago are spectacular and still have shifted stones from earthquake damage at the base of the foundations. The massive basilica in Cartago has beautiful stained glasswork and the sacred spring (that is undoubtedly tapped into the local shallow 'iffy' groundwater source) is a great sight to see. The basilica is founded on the site of La Negrita (little black one) which is a story of a local miracle and the waters from the spring are reported to have healing powers. I got my grandma a bonafide green plastic La Negrita bottle and filled it with holy water years ago as a gift for her.

I love that! Are these volcanoes actively spewing? Or just sort of hissing and rumbling like Mt. Saint Helens after it's early 1980's tantrums?

I still have mason jars full of ash swept up from my driveway after each Mt. Saint Helens eruption 40+ years ago. It's an amazing force of nature, those things. One day Mt. Lassen or Mt. Shasta will erupt, and then Californians will get it. (Plus most of Nevada)

The country is beautiful and the people are fantastic. From the coast to the lush rainforests, amazing culture. If you're nearby the University in San Pedro be sure to hit up Il Pomodoro for some great pizza. It was the first restaurant/bar in the county to have beer on tap.

Well, beer on tap! There we go. Obviously the people of Costa Rica can't be that rustic.

I remember my niece raving about Costa Rica after her honeymoon. But then, newlyweds at that stage of life rave about a lot of things, so I don't really remember the specifics.

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

I love that! Are these volcanoes actively spewing? Or just sort of hissing and rumbling like Mt. Saint Helens after it's early 1980's tantrums?

There are some minor eruptions a while back (I have not been involved with anything down there in several years since I got a 'real' job). Turrialba really started burping in ~2016-17 or so and it was a little unexpected so it really had them concerned. They are keeping an eye on it but as far as I know it just does some little phreatic eruptions (flash steamed rainwater) off and on. The only recent news I heard was another volcano ~100 miles north, Rincon De La Vieja (nice hot springs near there) had a pretty sizable burp a month ago or so. That seems a little unexpected. Costa Rica is a very geologically active country and there are fascinating aspects all over.

Well, beer on tap! There we go. Obviously the people of Costa Rica can't be that rustic.

My older colleagues at the University of Costa Rica would rave about how it was revolutionary. They all came to the states for their degrees and returned to teach at the university there, when this random pizza place suddenly had Imperial (I prefer Pilsen) beer on tap 20 years ago, it was revolutionary. There are now microbreweries all over the place in the country and the private brewing industry was just in its infancy last I knew about 4 years ago. Exciting stuff as there are several unique flavors to be experimented with down there.

I remember my niece raving about Costa Rica after her honeymoon. But then, newlyweds at that stage of life rave about a lot of things, so I don't really remember the specifics.

It's a great country and while lacking a bit in the historical ruin aspect, it makes up for it with true blue rainforest like what you'd expect out of Avatar etc... Night hikes when in the cloud forests stick the most in my memory for the sheer number of fauna encountered from larger mammals to billions of amazing looking insects and frogs.

 

[1HAPPYGHOSTHOST]

I love that! Are these volcanoes actively spewing? Or just sort of hissing and rumbling like Mt. Saint Helens after it's early 1980's tantrums?

I still have mason jars full of ash swept up from my driveway after each Mt. Saint Helens eruption 40+ years ago. It's an amazing force of nature, those things. One day Mt. Lassen or Mt. Shasta will erupt, and then Californians will get it. (Plus most of Nevada)



Well, beer on tap! There we go. Obviously the people of Costa Rica can't be that rustic.

I remember my niece raving about Costa Rica after her honeymoon. But then, newlyweds at that stage of life rave about a lot of things, so I don't really remember the specifics.

you used to live by Mt St. Helens??

 

[Jefro]

Man, I like the turn this thread is taking

Drown out the repetitive noise with the tropics - always down for that. Shoots. That's why I moved further into the Pacific

 

[TP2000]

It's a great country and while lacking a bit in the historical ruin aspect, it makes up for it with true blue rainforest like what you'd expect out of Avatar etc... Night hikes when in the cloud forests stick the most in my memory for the sheer number of fauna encountered from larger mammals to billions of amazing looking insects and frogs.

Fascinating stuff! It sounds exciting and lovely. I honestly do think I've seen a BBC documentary about it if I sit and concentrate on it; either the Costa Rica volcanoes or the hummingbirds, I forget which one. I do know its one of the most stable and safe countries in Central America, aside from the former British protectorate of Belize.

My niece certainly made a big deal about going to Costa Rica on her honeymoon years ago. I'm going to ask her about photos at Thanksgiving, but only after I quiz her knowledge of Turrialba.

 

[TP2000]

you used to live by Mt St. Helens??

Well, not really. But I did live south of Seattle during the Late Disco Era. Depending on which way the wind blew, the smaller eruptions would douse western Washington with ash on occasion. Portland got it a bit worse than we did, but it was really cities like Yakima and eastern Washington that was choked in ash during 1980-1982.

Wow, has Portland's skyline changed in 40 years!

I once tried to show my youngest relatives my mason jars full of ash, all dated and labeled by my then-secretary. But they seemed more interested in the label font; they were fascinated by it. I had to explain that it was an IBM Selectric operated by a young lady typing on sticky labels. Her Selectric was tomato red, as I recall. They thought that font and its provenance was more interesting than the actual volcanic ash scooped up from my front drive.

 

[Tamandua]

Mask mandate takes effect for large outdoor events in Los Angeles County as delta variant surges across US | abc7.com

Everyone%20attending%20outdoor%20%22mega-events%22%20of%20more%20than%2010%2C000%20people%20will%20have%20to%20wear%20a%20face%20covering%20in%20L.A.%20County%20under%20a%20new%20COVID%20health%20order.

abc7.com

Outdoor masks are back in Los Angeles. Where are all the people who said that outdoor masking isn't supported by science?