There are NO Weekend Top 6 Picks for March 21 and 22, 2020 due to Covid-19 Virus Pandemic. Stay home. Stay Safe.
The president recommended that gatherings of 10 people or more in the US be canceled or postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The nation’s top infectious disease official said he would like to see a 14-day national shutdown imposed, but it does not seem that President Donald Trump will order that. We need to change our routines for a threat we can not see. If we wait, many will die needlessly. The United States has some 45,000 Intensive Care Unit beds, and even in a moderate outbreak scenario, some 200,000 Americans will need intensive care.
Here are some of the the Florida attractions that remained open after the pandemic announcement, despite the CDC recommendation to close. All the large Orlando theme parks closed (Disney Theme Parks, Universal, Sea World, Lego Land) but some smaller venues ignored public safety concerns and remained open.
Fun Spot Orlando was business as usual. They added some hand sanitizing stations and did some housekeeping measures. Riding a roller coaster might be as fun as riding a subway car in NYC next to a coughing passenger by your side.
The Pirates Dinner Adventure remained open during regular hours. Attendance is lower because of virus concerns. They hope to maintain six to eight foot distances between guests in the dining area. Other changes include that the servers will be wearing gloves, food will arrive covered, and hand
sanitizers are available. The trouble with this venue is that guests have to wait like cattle in a crowded common room before being allowed into the main staging area. The second show (8 p.m.) for Friday, March 20, has been cancelled.
Icon Park on International Drive, with the Wheel, the Starflyer (the world’s tallest swing ride) and the
restaurants remained open. The seats, the handles, anything that people
can come into contact with were constantly being wiped down. A networking event is scheduled to happen on March 24, 2020, at Icon Park. I will not be going to sketch and rub shoulders.
These venues are insane to remain open, they are ignoring the numbers and science, not caring that they are risking guests’ health by remaining open for business. Two Florida mobile hospitals are ready to deploy when needed. Public beaches in Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale are closed.
A 34 year old man flew to Orlando on March 2, 2020 for a conference and decided to stay several more days to visit Walt Disney World and Universal. Before flying home, he developed a cough and started coughing up blood. Back in Pasadena California, he was diagnosed with symptoms of pneumonia. He tested positive for Covid-19 on March 13, 2020 and died on March 19, 2020 . It is not yet known if the man caught the virus in Orlando, but he was certainly contagious while he visited here and was in the theme parks. The virus survives on cardboard and copper surfaces for 24 hours, and for 72 hours on stainless steel and plastics. Now think of all the surfaces that were touched while waiting in a long line. It becomes clear that many others were likely infected in the parks and on the airplane.
Disney’s college internship program has shut down and students are being told they must leave by 11 am Wednesday March 18, 2020. Disney World has donated its excess food to Central Florida food banks like Second Harvest Food Bank. Volunteers are needed at Second Harvest since there has been a surge in need since the public school closures mean that many students will go hungry. Summer BreakSpot locations are being set up where children can find healthy nutritious meals.
The National Guard Medical Technicians are being deployed in Broward County, which is now the hot spot of outbreak of the virus in Florida. They will be setting up drive-through test sites. Miami Mayor Francis X Suerez has tested positive for the virus. Stay home. Stay safe.
Post Script:
Fun Spot America will close all locations until further notice beginning Monday 3/23/2020, the company announced Sunday evening.