Virus Impact on CP

https://sanduskyregister.com/news/176240/virus-impact-on-cedar-fair-muted/

“We typically welcome international students to become associates at Cedar Point during the key operation season,” Clark said. “We expect that this will continue in 2020; at this time, students from China will not be joining us.”

While the CDC test itself is free, so far the associated medical costs in getting tested have not up to this point and can be thousands.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article240476806.html

Financial costs like that can certainly impact one’s willingness to seek medical care and get tested. Due to the public health issues I suspect there will be more debate about “socializing” this portion of health care for US citizens, but what about international workers?

Why would the burden for testing be on anyone other than the international worker and/or the company bringing them in?

Simply put: Public Health. There is no "cure" just managing symptoms. So what is the incentive to spend big bucks and get tested and if positive be under the scrutinizing eyes of the government, quarantined, lost wages and possibly deported? Just tough it out, go to work and continue to spread it to others, no real skin off your back. Many just have common cold symptoms. Unethical? Yes. Will some, maybe many make this choice? My gut says yes.

If there's a cost for testing, humans won't get tested, and they'll unknowingly spread the disease. This is not hard math.

I texted a friend, another CP goer, about this a week ago. The comments above and what about all the souvenirs made in China.

All those Gold Pass holders that are local and afraid to get on an airplane this summer will need somewhere to go. I imagine that unless things take a drastic turn CP will do just fine this summer.

I think the whole thing is overblown. However, that doesn't mean people are not going to panic. The spread is just starting and will likely be in most states by the time CP opens its gates for the season. Do I think its anything to worry about for the average person? No. Most are either not showing symptoms or very mild ones. Do I think it will affect attendance? Probably. I think its just starting to get rolling and the media is making it into a monster that its not. Its going to affect attendance....the question is how much. Not a lot I don't think, but if it keeps spreading I can see the elderly and people with young kids staying away from crowds.

Out of curiosity, does Cedar Point pay it's international workers at a different rate that those from Ohio and Michigan (and elsewhere in the United States)?

I wonder what percentage of their seasonal base is international, and how this will impact staffing.

It's getting weird. The University of Washington just cancelled all in-person classes, and we are being asked to prepare for such a shut-down here. I'll happily welcome that.

I don't think the sky is falling, but then again I'm not an older individual with a pre-existing condition.

ABC Nightly News just reminded me us all to get enough sleep, exercise, and stop smoking. Finally some helpful advice!

This is the news when it comes to talking about the virus

The flu is actually worse than Coronavirus.

Banshee72 said:

I think the whole thing is overblown.

Science doesn't care about what you think.

As the disease shows up in more western nations, the fatality rate has remained over 3%, which is not ideal, to say the least. You can't just sit around and believe that it will run its course. If the doctors leading the WHO are concerned, it's reasonable to be concerned. It doesn't mean you have to suspend your life, it just means it's something you should not be ignorant about.

I don’t know if it was a joke or what but I read somewhere that CP wouldn’t hire workers from China due to coronavirus.

Exactly. And the key difference is that unlike our flu, there is no vaccine.

My father-in-law has had struggles with pneumonia for years (he's in his 70's). He gets the flu vaccine like he should.

That said, if he were to contract covid-19, it's a very real concern.

Am I worried for my own personal health? No. But for individuals like him? Yes.

You read that in Cargo Shorts original post, Shane.

I'm not terribly concerned about the 3% mortality rate *at this point* because the known infection rate is still so low, and thus a small number of deaths represents what is probably an inflated percentage of total patients. It's the problem of sampling and percentages when applied to small numbers. I suspect that when this is all over, we will grossly underestimate the infection rate just because a substantial number of cases will be dismissed as head colds or flu...and again that will also inflate the mortality rate.

More important, I suspect that this thing is going to move quickly enough that by summer it may have peaked...and at the very least we will have a better idea of what infection rates are really going to look like, and what that is really going to mean for the US population. I think ultimately our low population density and our insular ways are going to limit this thing in ways that we do not see in Europe and especially in Asia.

But then, what do I know? Infectious diseases are yet another thing I do not claim to be an expert on...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Yeah, I'm no virus expert either but I do think I know the Cure:

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=4WTxljDv&id=48E88609C3ACE8C46B038537121657C188E0868F&thid=OIP.4WTxljDvCZp3G0hs4hYSjwHaEK&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fa57.foxnews.com%2fa57.foxnews.com%2fstatic.foxnews.com%2ffoxnews.com%2fcontent%2fuploads%2f2019%2f02%2f640%2f320%2f1862%2f1048%2fthe-cure-andy-anderson.jpg%3fve%3d1%26tl%3d1%3fve%3d1%26tl%3d1&exph=1048&expw=1862&q=the+cure&simid=608013136394125853&selectedIndex=1&ajaxhist=0

(Slaps knee) .... yeah its very late....

It isn’t hard to post an actual image guys.

Back in the early 90’s I had the good fortune to attend a meet & greet before a show in STL. It was kind of weird shaking the hand of a 40ish year old man in white makeup and smeared lipstick. 😄

Though this is my favorite meme so far.

Kevinj said:

Exactly. And the key difference is that unlike our flu, there is no vaccine.

My father-in-law has had struggles with pneumonia for years (he's in his 70's). He gets the flu vaccine like he should.

That said, if he were to contract covid-19, it's a very real concern.

Am I worried for my own personal health? No. But for individuals like him? Yes.

You read that in Cargo Shorts original post, Shane.

Agree, self serving world in which we live. It never concerns anyone until it happens to themselves or a loved one. Be safe not selfish!

OSU has canceled in-person classes until at least March 30th. Can the local k-12 districts be far behind?

Haha thanks for finding that source, KevinJ!

Suspending in-person classes at colleges and universities is very much different than either closing or moving to online instruction for K-12. College kids are on their own. Not true for k-12 (at least K-7 or 8). Impacts in business will be significant if K-12 schools close. We may well get there though I would expect those moves to be much more local based on local community spread.

So we officially have a "plan" in place here at Mount Union, although given our size and relatively "cut-off" nature from the world (Alliance, Ohio is no Columbus, Ohio) the idea is to wait and see if it impacts someone directly on campus before the president makes the call...

Then again, many of our professors reside in Cuyahoga County (you know, the viral "epicenter" in Ohio), so who knows. It's been interesting to watch people scramble to come up with ways to take their courses online. I've been teaching online courses for different universities for over a decade, so this is not even a blip on the radar, but we literally have some profs here who don't even use our basic online platform for entering grades online. I'm guessing they have some kind of ledger?

As far as Cedar Point, I would think the biggest impact could be seen via international staffing, mainly because of timing (I'm guessing that now is a big recruitment window). It looks like the virus is starting to ramp itself down in China, so by opening day I would suspect the chaos to be largely over, with toilet paper sales dropping back to their normal levels. It's certainly given March Madness a new meaning.

As I type this (we're on Spring Break, so I can actually hear myself think) we just got an email from our local K-12. It basically said "quit calling us, calm down, and wash your hands. If you're sick, stay home"...along with all the typical Covid-19 talking points that we could all probably recite from memory at this point.

We certainly have no intention of changing any of our CP plans. Hopefully year 150 is full of people posing with their bricks...MrJohnLewis will discover his inner child and find the treasure at Forbidden Frontier...all of us elderly 40-somethings will storm the midways with our walkers and partially-grown children clamoring for a dark ride...the 2,368 foot ramp to get over to the island will finally get completed...interns will be plotting future lawsuits to earn their bronze parachute out of Sandusky...and all the other weird crap we end up talking about over the off-season will be a distant memory.

Worst case scenario? The park ends up...well...