Orange County Fl may lift mask mandate by June

[Missingmypooh]

There’s now a grassroots effort to rally against the mandate and throwing around words like “recalls” and “lawsuits”

as a local, I’ve seen a number of people jump on board, including those looking for clearer ADA guidelines.

could be a deciding factor of “when” the mandates are lifted.

 

[WillJenDisney]

And yes, children are less likely to be hospitalized and die from the virus, but they are increasingly able to spread it (to each other and to others). If you read more of that article, it says that schools in Wisconsin are being investigated for more outbreaks than any other facility type now (including prisons and nursing homes). Children are becoming primary spreaders when they weren't before. They also cannot be vaccinated right now. It makes no sense to lift the mask mandate at a theme park that attracts many children from all over the country and world.

According to a New York Times article:
"Until recently, the [UK] variant’s rise was somewhat camouflaged by falling rates of infection over all, lulling Americans into a false sense of security and leading to prematurely relaxed restrictions, researchers say."

and also:
"'Several factors are driving up case reports in Minnesota, she [Sara Vetter, director of the Minnesota Health Department’s Public Health Laboratory] said. One is people not following public health guidelines. Another is the spread of the B.1.1.7 variant.'"
(That's the UK variant.)

and also:
"Dr. Ruth Lynfield, a state epidemiologist, said there had been a notable rise in cases over all in people ages 10 to 19. [...] 'It’s a race of vaccine against variants,' Dr. Lynfield said. 'People really need to work hard and be patient, and continue to wear masks and continue to socially distance.'”

To me, it sounds like the experts are quite clear. The new variant is making COVID-19 more contagious, children are increasingly becoming spreaders, and the last thing we should do is relax our masking and social distancing practices. You are trying to make it sound like the experts don't know anything and are unsure, but that just isn't true. Their message is quite clear: Keep wearing a mask and keep social distancing.

Yes, the young may contract it and spread it, but who are they spreading it to? Other young people, because everyone else is getting vaccinated now. And young people are barely at risk from this any more than the flu. It was necessary to take all of the precautions we did over the past year because this was very dangerous for older demographics and people with pre-existing conditions. But the vaccine has now been readily available to those groups for quite some time. It's now available to anyone 16 and up here in Ohio, and has been for weeks.

The goal cannot be that we keep these policies in place until the virus hits zero. The goal has to be to keep them in place until the folks who are at-risk are vaccinated (or had the option of getting vaccinated - we can't stay shut down because of people who are refusing). Once that is achieved, who cares if it is spreading among the demographics that suffer little harm. We just treat it like we would any other illness at that point.

 

[Becky Mouse]

Yes, the young may contract it and spread it, but who are they spreading it to? Other young people, because everyone else is getting vaccinated now.

That would be true if vaccination rates were high enough in adults. They're not. So far, 21% of Americans have been fully vaccinated. That's a far, far cry from herd immunity.

Many people on this thread are saying we should treat COVID like the flu now. COVID is different from the flu and doesn't mutate as fast. We can't eliminate influenza through vaccination efforts and herd immunity because it mutates too fast and can be spread fairly easily across species. However, many experts believe we can stop COVID from being able to spread and possibly eliminate it with herd immunity through vaccination efforts. To do that, we need more people getting vaccinated, and we need to keep practicing mask wearing and social distancing until that happens! We can stop COVID. However, the more variants that spread, the more difficult it becomes. That's why experts say stopping COVID-19 is a race between vaccination efforts and the spread of variants. There are things we can do to do our part to help our country. One is to get vaccinated. The other is to keep following mitigation practices to prevent more variants from emerging.

You tell me to find more sources. Literally every reliable source has public health officials and doctors urging people to continue wearing masks and practice social distancing in public places. Here's another expert who is urging mask use:



"'I do think that probably, well into next year, it may be appropriate for people to continue to wear masks when they're out in public,' he [Dr. Dean Winslow, a Professor of Medicine at Stanford University] said."

"Dr. Winslow said until a significant percentage of the population is immunized, masks should continue to be part of everyone's plans.

"'It's really important that until we get well above, I think 75, or even 80-percent of the population immunized, that we continue these physical mitigating measures,' he advised. 'It's a reasonable thing to do. It's relatively inexpensive and I think now, most of us are used to wearing masks, most of the time.'"

 

[jlwhitney]

That would be true if vaccination rates were high enough in adults. They're not. So far, 21% of Americans have been fully vaccinated. That's a far, far cry from herd immunity.

Many people on this thread are saying we should treat COVID like the flu now. COVID is different from the flu and doesn't mutate as fast. We can't eliminate influenza through vaccination efforts and herd immunity because it mutates too fast and can be spread fairly easily across species. However, many experts believe we can stop COVID from being able to spread and possibly eliminate it with herd immunity through vaccination efforts. To do that, we need more people getting vaccinated, and we need to keep practicing mask wearing and social distancing until that happens! We can stop COVID. However, the more variants that spread, the more difficult it becomes. That's why experts say stopping COVID-19 is a race between vaccination efforts and the spread of variants. There are things we can do to do our part to help our country. One is to get vaccinated. The other is to keep following mitigation practices to prevent more variants from emerging.

You tell me to find more sources. Literally every reliable source has public health officials and doctors urging people to continue wearing masks and practice social distancing in public places. Here's another expert who is urging mask use:



"'I do think that probably, well into next year, it may be appropriate for people to continue to wear masks when they're out in public,' he [Dr. Dean Winslow, a Professor of Medicine at Stanford University] said."

"Dr. Winslow said until a significant percentage of the population is immunized, masks should continue to be part of everyone's plans.

"'It's really important that until we get well above, I think 75, or even 80-percent of the population immunized, that we continue these physical mitigating measures,' he advised. 'It's a reasonable thing to do. It's relatively inexpensive and I think now, most of us are used to wearing masks, most of the time.'"

Actually there are also many researchers that have said elimination is highly unlikely since it can jump between animals and humans. Small poxes in ability to jump to animals made it possibly but even that took decades.

There is a real possibility that we will also never have herd immunity to covid, there is a chance not for sure.

 

[tgree9369]

That would be true if vaccination rates were high enough in adults. They're not. So far, 21% of Americans have been fully vaccinated. That's a far, far cry from herd immunity.

Many people on this thread are saying we should treat COVID like the flu now. COVID is different from the flu and doesn't mutate as fast. We can't eliminate influenza through vaccination efforts and herd immunity because it mutates too fast and can be spread fairly easily across species. However, many experts believe we can stop COVID from being able to spread and possibly eliminate it with herd immunity through vaccination efforts. To do that, we need more people getting vaccinated, and we need to keep practicing mask wearing and social distancing until that happens! We can stop COVID. However, the more variants that spread, the more difficult it becomes. That's why experts say stopping COVID-19 is a race between vaccination efforts and the spread of variants. There are things we can do to do our part to help our country. One is to get vaccinated. The other is to keep following mitigation practices to prevent more variants from emerging.

You tell me to find more sources. Literally every reliable source has public health officials and doctors urging people to continue wearing masks and practice social distancing in public places. Here's another expert who is urging mask use:



"'I do think that probably, well into next year, it may be appropriate for people to continue to wear masks when they're out in public,' he [Dr. Dean Winslow, a Professor of Medicine at Stanford University] said."

"Dr. Winslow said until a significant percentage of the population is immunized, masks should continue to be part of everyone's plans.

"'It's really important that until we get well above, I think 75, or even 80-percent of the population immunized, that we continue these physical mitigating measures,' he advised. 'It's a reasonable thing to do. It's relatively inexpensive and I think now, most of us are used to wearing masks, most of the time.'"

Well, and I speak for myself, I am at the point where I will wear a mask if mandated by Disney - but I am not agreeing that it helps anything in an outside environment. "The follow like sheep theory" isn't my cup of tea and to think that the perception that has been given to the public isn't politically motivated is just plain sad.

 

[WebmasterDoc]

Yet another thread has drifted far from the topic to become an argumentative, misinformation filled debate (and we have not had a debate forum for years). This thread is closed with no reason to restart in the future.