The COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve around the world, including in the United States.
Face mask sign
Recently, the mayor of Orange County, Florida has noted that they are in “crisis mode” due to the rising COVID-19 cases in the county, and we shared that the United States will not be lifting its travel restrictions due to COVID-19 concerns. Earlier today, we shared that the Centers for Disease Control may be updating their recommendations regarding mask wearing and now we’ve got an update.
Previously, the CDC’s recommendation noted that vaccinated individuals did not need to wear masks in most locations — outdoor or indoor. According to The Washington Post, the CDC has issued an updated recommendation regarding masks. The CDC is now recommending that vaccinated individuals wear masks again in certain circumstances.
Specifically, according to CNN, the CDC is recommending vaccinated people who live in places with “high” or “substantial” COVID-19 transmission resume wearing masks indoors. It appears this is specifically with regards to indoor, public settings according to CNBC.
Mask Sign
According to The Washington Post, the CDC’s updated guidance also recommends that vaccinated people who live with vulnerable household members, including young children and/or individuals who are immunocompromised, wear masks indoors in public spaces.
The CDC is also recommending universal masking for teachers, staff, and students in school, whether they are fully vaccinated or not.
Masks
According to The Washington Post, this change in the CDC’s recommendations was “spurred by new data showing that on rare occasions, some vaccinated people ‘may be contagious and spread the virus to others.'” CNN notes that one health official said they believe vaccinated people represent a small amount of COVID-19 transmissions “and the overwhelming majority of spread is still by unvaccinated people. But they know breakthrough cases can happen and emerging data suggests some vaccinated people can spread it.”
CNN shares that White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki notes that the CDC’s decisions are based on a “changing situation.” Psaki said, “The reality is we are dealing with a much different strain of this virus than we were even earlier in the spring, back in May.”
Face masks
COVID-19 infections in the US have quadrupled in July from about 13,000 cases per day early in the month, to more than 54,000 now, according to the Washington Post.
When we searched on the CDC’s website, Orange County (where part of Disney World is located), as well as Osceola County (where more of Disney World is located), are both in the “high” category for community transmission related to COVID-19.
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As of July 20th, the Delta variant made up 83% of all sequenced COVID-19 cases in the U.S. In June, the CDC estimated that the variant only made up 26% of new COVID-19 cases, according to CNN.
Orange County, Florida Mayor Jerry Demings also recently recommended that people wear masks indoors and in crowded places. Mayor Demings said that “According to the CDC, Florida, Texas, and Missouri account for 40% of all cases nationwide at this time.” He also previously noted that for the second week in a row, Florida accounts for 1 in 5 new cases in the United States.
Health and Safety Reminders Sign
Right now, Disney has not yet announced any change in its mask rules.
We’ll be looking out for any updates regarding masks, so stay tuned to DFB for more.
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Always wear your face mask. Rules lifted to not. We are not out of the woods yet. I’m Canadian and we are doing ok…but to protect yourself against the unvaxxers…wear your mask!
how do we express to disney we need a mask mandate to feel safe. we have littles who can’t be vaxxed. its is a lot of money to spend to get a life long infection
we don’t know how this will affect kids long term
How many individuals have come down with covid and can be attributed to being at WDW? Also, how many of those individuals who have covid were vaccinated?
If you look at shopDisney.com their masks got removed from sale.
I still wear my mask indoors. I am sometimes the only one inside the grocery wearing a mask. But, I’m probably the safest. When I go to Disney World in October, I’ll be wearing it. My health and safety is too important to me.
I would like to say thank you for all the encouraging stories you print. You have put my dreams on hold to attend Disney anytime in the near future. The closest time in May 2022, I have yet too read anything that was good. Depressing yes.
Please, people. The virus is NOT political. I am in Australia, a nation that fid extremely well with the virus last year. With 908 deaths nationally. But we have an outbreak of the Delta variant in Sydney, the largest city. In 5 weeks we have gone from 1 case to well over 2,500 in 5 weeks because our right wing state government delayed enacting a lockdown. We have had 11 deaths in Sydney so far, almost all in the past week. And before you try to say ‘Oh, it’s just a disease the impacts the old or infirm’… The toungest death was a woman aged in her 30s woth no pre existing medical conditions. And of the 19 on ventilators, teo are teenagers. Out of 167 people i hospital, 57 are in ICU (over 1/3). Not one person in ICU or on a ventilator is vaccinated.. Please take this virus seriously. This variant is serious and we are in a race to get wnough people vaccinated in order to protect thise who cannot vaccinate themselves. The Federal government here has botched the vaccine rollout badly. Only 16% of the nation is fully vaccinated at this stage. Sydney has been in a strict lockdown for 5 weeks, and it has been extended a further 4 weeks because yeaterdays numbers were 177 new cases, 46 infectious in the community & the 11th death in the previous 24 hours. Please wear your masks, practice social distancing… if not for yourself, then for those around you. Please!
I’m vaddinated so I won’t be wearing a mask. There is no reason.
Worried Disney Mom, you could try reaching out to the Disney Help Center line ((407) 939-4357) to see if they could pass along your concerns. I’m not sure of a better contact number, unfortunately.
I guarantee that I have had more vaccinations against more deadly pathogens than you ever will. My immunization record is 5 pages long, with immunizations against Smallpox, Tuberculosis, Bird Flu, Swine Flu, Anthrax, Hepatitis, etc., and every flu strain since 2007. I WILL NOT get the C19 chemical shot because of the research I have done regarding what it is, what it contains, and the 110 possible side-effects.
But make your own decisions. Hopefully you’ve done some research on it before you get injected with poison that will cripple and possibly kill you and your kids.
And yes, I and my family have had it and recovered. No vaccine, no masks.
The best thing for Worried Disney Mom to do is to keep your child home until you feel comfortable since masks are not a perfect deterrent. Look at the data on masks/no masks and you’ll see similar outcomes. Additionally, I’ve had COVID and the vaccine and there is no real proof that I could even give your child the virus. Listen to the CDC director where she says it COULD happen. In the US everyone 12 and over can easily get a vaccine–so assuming they work–there is no reason why we should wear a mask to potentially protect those people who have assumed that risk. As for children, to take your child to Disney with all of these uncertainties and then expect others to be responsible to NOT give your child the virus doesn’t make sense.
I’ll not be going back to Disney until these mask mandates are gone. The masks make me nauseous, especially in the heat and it’s half the experience. I’ve loved Disney, but I don’t think they’ve followed the science in these cases–just the government. We’ve gone twice since the pandemic (had an annual pass) and canceled another trip–it’s just not worth it. DisneyWorriedMom–take your little one when you feel good about it and things are back to normal. I wouldn’t depend on other people in any case to protect your child.