It's okay. No harm done. And if anyone here is taking actual medical advice from me via this thread, then they deserve a week in bed with flu symptoms.
Do your own thing. Life your life. I certainly do.
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Will Disneyland USA suffer? ALL Of Disney's Theme Parks Now Closed - Reopening Dates Unknown
- Thread starter TP2000
- Start date
It's okay. No harm done. And if anyone here is taking actual medical advice from me via this thread, then they deserve a week in bed with flu symptoms.
Do your own thing. Life your life. I certainly do.
Here's a new article in the Washington Post about an elderly man in his late 60's that caught the Coronavirus on the stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan. His experience may be surprising to some folks, especially if they just bought a pallet of Mac n' Cheese at Costco to prepare...
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
The flu shot is an influenza vaccine.Uh.... okay. You can continue to freak out about it, I'm not telling you you can't do that. Sell your car. Sell your home. Buy an entire pallet of Macaroni & Cheese at Costco! Do it now! Panic! Freak out! It's Coronavirus. We are all going to die within weeks. Or at the very least, maybe get the flu and stay home to get caught up on The Price Is Right.
Hoarding in the USA? Coronavirus sparks consumer concerns
American consumers awoke this week to the coronavirus threat and are beginning to display a symptom of the illness seen in Asia and Europe - hoarding.www.reuters.com
As for me, I'm going to just wash my hands and use those little disinfectant wipes for the shopping cart at my local Ralph's like I always do, and go about my normal business. But feel free to completely lose your mind over this. Because it is the end of the world.
And then next fall when I get my annual flu shot, it will have the vaccine for Covid-19 included in next winter's flu shot. But I'll still use those little sanitizing wipes for my shopping cart at Ralph's, just because those are kind of fun.
It is better safe than sorry to use wipes and sanitizer. A friend of mine never washed his hands after using the bathroom at work claiming he needed the germs to remain on his hands? The nastiest place to touch are the touch screens when you pay for your food or the touch pads on the gym equipment at your local gym.
Curious Constance
Well-Known Member
Whenever I hear something like how nasty certain surfaces are, like touch screens, phones, etc at first it can make you anxious like, OMG I touch those things daily, many times a day! But then you think about it a second, and it’s like, oh. I touch those things daily, many times a day and it’s okay! I almost never get sick. It’s been like 15 years since I had anything like a flu, and I rarely get a cold. So, I’ll just continue washing my hands and it should work out.
Maybe I owe it all to my kids who ruined my bladder in the womb. I end up washing my hands a lot more from the more frequent bathroom trips. Maybe I’ll get them a treat today as a thank you.
BrianLo
Well-Known Member
The threshold they utilized for Hong Kong this time, should have technically Shuttered WDW in 2003.
But of course there was no closure of Canadian borders and the constant scourge of Canadians visiting Florida were barely discouraged.
Partially the precedent was initially set and it’s hard to redirect it.
There hasn’t been and there still isn’t much utility in closing Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Thanks, I had wondered that too.
I'll be fascinated to watch what the threshold will be for closing Disneyland USA. The first American death from Coronavirus? The 10th American death? If the LA and OC county school systems close their schools, even though the mortality rate for children is effectively 0.0% ? It's just madness, since they don't close the park for the annual flu season and tens of thousands of Americans die each year from the flu, and the lap bars on Space Mountain are touched constantly.
And I'll also be fascinated to watch the AP community demand a pro-rated discount based on the length of the closure.
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SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
Thanks, I had wondered that too.
I'll be fascinated to watch what the threshold will be for closing Disneyland USA. The first American death from Coronavirus? The 10th American death? If the LA and OC county school systems close their schools? It's just madness, since they don't close the park for the annual flu season and tens of thousands of Americans die each year from the flu, and the lap bars on Space Mountain are touched constantly.
And I'll also be fascinated to watch the AP community demand a pro-rated discount based on the length of the closure.
One would hope that any closure would be used to get a jump start on the much needed maintenance/refurbishments throughout the parks. If Disneyland closes, it better reopen looking the best it ever has.
If they do close Disneyland USA, that would mean the media-fueled panic on this had reached a fever pitch (pardon the pun) and they would not allow CM's to come to work. Disneyland has 32,000 CM's, and even if they only allowed a third of the salaried CM's and the skilled tradesmen (painters, carpenters, electricians, etc.) to still work, it would not be publicly acceptable to allow 10,000 people to congregate in the workplace.
I just can't imagine a scenario where Burbank is forced to close Disneyland and WDW due to a panic, and yet still allow thousands of CM's to come in and work together every day.
Once the park is closed for long periods of time, dirt, dust, mold accumulate, landscaping goes to crap, etc and that's just for starters. It would take a huge clean up job to get up and running.
Yes. It will be a nightmare to manage, both the closure and the eventual reopening. This closure scenario has never happened before.
Not even during the severe Hong Kong Flu outbreak in 1969 where a few thousand Californians died from it.
No wonder Bob Jr. looked nauseous on TV the other day.
I've never seen a guy that just became the CEO of the greatest entertainment company in the world look so stone faced in the TV interviewYes. It will be a nightmare to manage, both the closure and the eventual reopening. This closure scenario has never happened before.
Not even during the severe Hong Kong Flu outbreak in 1969 where a few thousand Californians died from it.
No wonder Bob Jr. looked nauseous on TV the other day.
I'm sitting on the patio with my laptop enjoying this absolutely gorgeous afternoon here in SoCal, and getting caught up on the news.
Here are two articles for two sides of the Coronavirus story; one for those who are worried and want to respond to that worry, and one for those of us who can't figure out what the big deal is.
The first article is the Disaster Movie article, although it deals mainly with potential economic impacts owing to the vast "supply chain" we are now dependent on Communist China for. (And don't get me started on how stupid that was for our nation and our leaders from both political parties to allow that to happen over the last 20 years!!!)
A key takeaway from this article...
"There’s just the sheer uncertainty of it all. Nobody has any real frame of reference for what’s coming the world’s way right now. Outbreaks like SARS and swine flu haven’t prepared us for a hard-to-spot, wildly contagious pathogen. We don’t know what the public health and economic damage will be. And we don’t know what knock-on effects it could trigger. We have few answers and plenty to be afraid of. As always, the markets are worried about fear itself."
slate.com
And then there's the article for those trying to figure out what all the TV talking head panic is about, and why this virus would be any different than any other bad flu season of the last few decades? It breaks it down with five key buckets of medical facts and demographic stats on what we know so far about the Coronavirus.
A key takeaway from this article, an issue I wondered about in this thread earlier, the difference in lifestyle between inland Communist China and America...
"Only one out of every 1,000 people in Hubei Province has contracted the coronavirus. There have been 65,914 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in China's Hubei Province, where the outbreak began in December. That sounds like a lot, but keep in mind that the population of Hubei is 59,170,000. The province is slightly smaller than Nebraska, but with thirty times as many inhabitants. With this sort of population density, it's a positive sign that just .11% (roughly 1 in 1000) of the population has caught COVID-19. Even if there were 53,000 unreported cases, that would mean only one out of every 500 people in Hubei caught the virus. Given the population density in most other countries is significantly lower than in China, we can expect that the coronavirus will have a much harder time spreading in much of the world."
And for those not from the Sooner State, the population of Nebraska is currently 1.9 Million. Less than 2 Million.
www.realclearscience.com
Here are two articles for two sides of the Coronavirus story; one for those who are worried and want to respond to that worry, and one for those of us who can't figure out what the big deal is.
The first article is the Disaster Movie article, although it deals mainly with potential economic impacts owing to the vast "supply chain" we are now dependent on Communist China for. (And don't get me started on how stupid that was for our nation and our leaders from both political parties to allow that to happen over the last 20 years!!!)
A key takeaway from this article...
"There’s just the sheer uncertainty of it all. Nobody has any real frame of reference for what’s coming the world’s way right now. Outbreaks like SARS and swine flu haven’t prepared us for a hard-to-spot, wildly contagious pathogen. We don’t know what the public health and economic damage will be. And we don’t know what knock-on effects it could trigger. We have few answers and plenty to be afraid of. As always, the markets are worried about fear itself."
Four Reasons Why the Coronavirus Is Such a Terrifying Economic Menace
The normal playbook for fighting recessions might not work in a global pandemic
And then there's the article for those trying to figure out what all the TV talking head panic is about, and why this virus would be any different than any other bad flu season of the last few decades? It breaks it down with five key buckets of medical facts and demographic stats on what we know so far about the Coronavirus.
A key takeaway from this article, an issue I wondered about in this thread earlier, the difference in lifestyle between inland Communist China and America...
"Only one out of every 1,000 people in Hubei Province has contracted the coronavirus. There have been 65,914 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in China's Hubei Province, where the outbreak began in December. That sounds like a lot, but keep in mind that the population of Hubei is 59,170,000. The province is slightly smaller than Nebraska, but with thirty times as many inhabitants. With this sort of population density, it's a positive sign that just .11% (roughly 1 in 1000) of the population has caught COVID-19. Even if there were 53,000 unreported cases, that would mean only one out of every 500 people in Hubei caught the virus. Given the population density in most other countries is significantly lower than in China, we can expect that the coronavirus will have a much harder time spreading in much of the world."
And for those not from the Sooner State, the population of Nebraska is currently 1.9 Million. Less than 2 Million.
Five Reasons You Don't Need to Panic About the COVID-19 Coronavirus | RealClearScience
The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus (causing the disease COVID-19) that emerged in Wuhan, China back in December 2019 is now spreading globally and has now been declared a pandemic by the World Health...
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And just like that #1...
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/1st-coronavirus-death-u-s-officials-say-n1145931
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/1st-coronavirus-death-u-s-officials-say-n1145931
RobWDW1971
Well-Known Member
The facts people aren't hearing enough about:I'm sitting on the patio with my laptop enjoying this absolutely gorgeous afternoon here in SoCal, and getting caught up on the news.
Here are two articles for two sides of the Coronavirus story; one for those who are worried and want to respond to that worry, and one for those of us who can't figure out what the big deal is.
The first article is the Disaster Movie article, although it deals mainly with potential economic impacts owing to the vast "supply chain" we are now dependent on Communist China for. (And don't get me started on how stupid that was for our nation and our leaders from both political parties to allow that to happen over the last 20 years!!!)
A key takeaway from this article...
"There’s just the sheer uncertainty of it all. Nobody has any real frame of reference for what’s coming the world’s way right now. Outbreaks like SARS and swine flu haven’t prepared us for a hard-to-spot, wildly contagious pathogen. We don’t know what the public health and economic damage will be. And we don’t know what knock-on effects it could trigger. We have few answers and plenty to be afraid of. As always, the markets are worried about fear itself."
Four Reasons Why the Coronavirus Is Such a Terrifying Economic Menace
The normal playbook for fighting recessions might not work in a global pandemic
And then there's the article for those trying to figure out what all the TV talking head panic is about, and why this virus would be any different than any other bad flu season of the last few decades? It breaks it down with five key buckets of medical facts and demographic stats on what we know so far about the Coronavirus.
A key takeaway from this article, an issue I wondered about in this thread earlier, the difference in lifestyle between inland Communist China and America...
"Only one out of every 1,000 people in Hubei Province has contracted the coronavirus. There have been 65,914 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in China's Hubei Province, where the outbreak began in December. That sounds like a lot, but keep in mind that the population of Hubei is 59,170,000. The province is slightly smaller than Nebraska, but with thirty times as many inhabitants. With this sort of population density, it's a positive sign that just .11% (roughly 1 in 1000) of the population has caught COVID-19. Even if there were 53,000 unreported cases, that would mean only one out of every 500 people in Hubei caught the virus. Given the population density in most other countries is significantly lower than in China, we can expect that the coronavirus will have a much harder time spreading in much of the world."
And for those not from the Sooner State, the population of Nebraska is currently 1.9 Million. Less than 2 Million.
Five Reasons You Don't Need to Panic About the COVID-19 Coronavirus | RealClearScience
The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus (causing the disease COVID-19) that emerged in Wuhan, China back in December 2019 is now spreading globally and has now been declared a pandemic by the World Health...
- As the press likes to trumpet, there are a cumulative total of 87K cases - this is additive so it will always go up even if everybody was cured and one more person gets it
- Of the total 87K cases, only 42K are currently active. Of those 42K cases, 82% are mild (flu like cough/fever), and only 18%, or just 7,569 cases, are severe/critical for the entire world and 97% of those serious cases are in China.
- Of the 45K closed cases 93% of those people have recovered.
- Over the past week, the actual number of active cases and serious/critical cases have declined globally as the Chinese recoveries are outpacing the new cases.
Here's a great website to go down the rabbit hole with no spin, just data:
Coronavirus Update (Live): 137,483,333 Cases and 2,962,790 Deaths from COVID-19 Virus Pandemic - Worldometer
Live statistics and coronavirus news tracking the number of confirmed cases, recovered patients, tests, and death toll due to the COVID-19 coronavirus from Wuhan, China. Coronavirus counter with new cases, deaths, and number of tests per 1 Million population. Historical data and info. Daily...
www.worldometers.info
Again, nobody can predict the future, but as of now the panic is unwarranted. Imagine if we treated the news of the 18,000 people who have already died of flu related illnesses this season in the US so far like this, we'd all be living like the boy in the bubble.
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I will preface my message with this: Panic is a very bad reaction to the current situation, but downplaying everything as "it's just a flu" is equally as bad. My advice would be to stay cautious and up to date on information as this unfolds, especially now that we are getting more confirmed cases on the west coast.
COVID-19 is not the flu, and saying hospitalizations are confined to the "very elderly and fragile or those with compromised immune systems" is wrong at best, and potentially harmful at worst, saying that "so many of the folks getting this flu are life-long smokers" is also wrong.
The actual data, as cited by a new study shows that as of January 31st 2020 [using the available data], most hospitalizations (56%) are under the age of 50, and 76.3% of cases did not have a known pre-existing condition. Of the remaining 23.7% that did have a pre-existing condition hypertension is what accounted for 15% of cases, the next highest was diabetes at 5.8%. Of total cases 85.4% of them never smoked, with an additional 1.9% being former smokers.
Severe cases are skewed more towards the elderly and frail, but again not "generally confined" to the elderly and frail. Severe cases were made up of 41.7% under the age of 50, and 61.3% of severe cases did not have any pre-existing conditions, the two highest pre-existing conditions were hypertension (23.7%) and diabetes (16.2%), the next highest was coronary heart disease at 5.8%. Severe cases continue the trend with smoking being slightly increased over all cases, with 77.9% of severe cases being non-smokers and an additional 5.2% being former smokers.
For some numbers on the two highest pre-existing conditions: according to the CDC 45% of adults in America have hypertension and 9.5% of adults have diabetes.
To summarize, this virus has hit everyone essentially equally according to the data, and the majority of pre-existing conditions are things that are very rampant in America (hypertension and diabetes).
To summarize my view points:
Is this currently stopping me from going on about my daily life (including going to Disneyland)? No.
Will I make sure I keep up to date with this? Absolutely.
Will this affect my life in the future? Probably, but what form that will be I have no clue yet.
COVID-19 is not the flu, and saying hospitalizations are confined to the "very elderly and fragile or those with compromised immune systems" is wrong at best, and potentially harmful at worst, saying that "so many of the folks getting this flu are life-long smokers" is also wrong.
The actual data, as cited by a new study shows that as of January 31st 2020 [using the available data], most hospitalizations (56%) are under the age of 50, and 76.3% of cases did not have a known pre-existing condition. Of the remaining 23.7% that did have a pre-existing condition hypertension is what accounted for 15% of cases, the next highest was diabetes at 5.8%. Of total cases 85.4% of them never smoked, with an additional 1.9% being former smokers.
Severe cases are skewed more towards the elderly and frail, but again not "generally confined" to the elderly and frail. Severe cases were made up of 41.7% under the age of 50, and 61.3% of severe cases did not have any pre-existing conditions, the two highest pre-existing conditions were hypertension (23.7%) and diabetes (16.2%), the next highest was coronary heart disease at 5.8%. Severe cases continue the trend with smoking being slightly increased over all cases, with 77.9% of severe cases being non-smokers and an additional 5.2% being former smokers.
For some numbers on the two highest pre-existing conditions: according to the CDC 45% of adults in America have hypertension and 9.5% of adults have diabetes.
To summarize, this virus has hit everyone essentially equally according to the data, and the majority of pre-existing conditions are things that are very rampant in America (hypertension and diabetes).
To summarize my view points:
Is this currently stopping me from going on about my daily life (including going to Disneyland)? No.
Will I make sure I keep up to date with this? Absolutely.
Will this affect my life in the future? Probably, but what form that will be I have no clue yet.
smooch
Well-Known Member
Meanwhile, in Anaheim, USA Today linked in the Coronavirus with today's debut of the Magic Happens parade. Our intrepid reporter stood "shoulder to shoulder" with a hundred potentially infected strangers to bring us this report on the new parade...
Disneyland debuts new parade amid coronavirus scare: Can magic still happen?
As other Disneyland parks close, Disneyland Anaheim premieres a colorful new parade. Does its magic still work amid global virus concern?www.usatoday.com
Slightly off topic but this article talks about how
and it reminded me of the couple of times in The Imagineering Story when they were talking about competing with video games and VR as immersive experiences and I have never understood this connection. Visiting a theme park is such an different experience from VR or a video game I don't see the two being competition for one another. I play video games often and have a VR headset that is incredible to use, it does provide a completely different and very immersive experience, but at the end of the day I am fully aware I'm standing inside my bedroom and not actually in that place. There are no smells, no physical movement for something like a ride, no foods to enjoy, nothing that you get in a theme park. I would love a VR walkaround program of Disneyland where you could walk around the park and even ride the rides, that would be really fun, but it wouldn't make me stop taking trips to Disneyland like people constantly make it seem like is the case. Sorry again for the off topic comment but this article just reminded me of how much I hate that idea.
smooch
Well-Known Member
That's hysterical.
And in all the decades I have been going to Disneyland, did you know that I have never had one of those turkey legs? Not because I dislike turkey. But there's something that just seems so uncouth and unattractive about an older man chomping on a giant turkey leg in public. I think younger folks can get away with it, sometimes. But me? No thanks.
Who cares? Nobody is judging at Disneyland, everyone is there to get away from that sort of stuff and have fun. I have had them a few times and they are absolutely delicious. It is a lot of food, I can buy two and it will feed my family of 5. And my mom is really picky about what she eats in the park, she is very, uh, snobby with having good "home cooked" meals and doesn't like "cheap theme park food" but she gets a turkey leg every time she's at Disneyland.
RobWDW1971
Well-Known Member
The reason people, including doctors, are comparing it to the flu is it because to date it is behaving like the flu in terms of methods of transmission, symptoms (minus the nasal congestion), treatments, and prevention methods.
It is not the plague. It is not Ebola. It is not from the movie Contagion where you fall on the floor and convulse and die and leave Matt Damon as a single dad.
You catch it like you would the flu (through air droplets from someone coughing/talking) and from infected surfaces.
And the ONLY way you can prevent it, just like the flu, is washing your hands and avoiding human contact.
Of course it is a completely different virus than influenza and will have a different fatality rate (estimated 2% while influenza is .2%), but using the flu comparison is quite helpful to understand how to deal with it.
Especially when you consider the idea of stopping a "flu like" virus that is twice as contagious as normal flu is impossible, just like trying to stop regular flu.