Walt Disney World in Florida dropped its outdoor and indoor Covid-19 mask mandate today for guests who are fully vaccinated.
The park announced the guideline change in an update on its website on Tuesday, saying those who are vaccinated will have the choice to wear a mask or not.
Disney World in Orlando, Florida, operated by Walt Disney Co, said it will continue to expect guests who are not fully vaccinated to wear face coverings in all indoor locations, including theaters., after February 17.
Walt Disney World in Florida dropped its outdoor and indoor Covid-19 mask mandate today for guests who are fully vaccinated. Pictured: Guests are seen in the park in August (file photo)
All guests over the age of two will still be required to wear masks when using the park’s enclosed transportation, such as buses and the Disney Skyliner.
The statement said: Face coverings will be optional for fully vaccinated Guests in both outdoor and indoor locations.
‘We expect Guests who are not fully vaccinated to continue wearing face coverings in all indoor locations, including indoor attractions and theaters.
‘Face coverings will still be required by all Guests (ages 2 and up) on enclosed Disney transportation, including Disney buses, monorails, and Disney Skyliner,’ it added.
Before Thursday, Disney World has required all guests over the age of two to wear face masks in all indoor settings.
Disney World’s statement also outlined what masks are considered acceptable at the theme park.
Masks worn by guests must: ‘be made with at least two layers of breathable material, fully cover the nose and mouth and secure under the chin, fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face and be secured with ties or ear loops,’ it said.
Disney World in Orlando, Florida, operated by Walt Disney Co, said it will continue to expect guests who are not fully vaccinated to wear face coverings in all indoor locations, including theaters., after February 17
Meanwhile, ‘neck gaiters, open-chin, triangle bandanas and face coverings containing valves, mesh material or holes of any kind,’ are not permitted to be used as masks, the park said, citing guidance from health authorities.
The update also said that costume masks ‘of any kind’ will not be accepted as substitutes for Covid-19 face coverings.
An update on Disneyland California’s website showed masks were required for unvaccinated guests in all indoor locations, while face coverings were optional outdoors.
Disney World and Disneyland both said masks will still be required in certain indoor settings, including transportation.
Many major U.S. firms, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase & Co, have also made masks optional for their workers, although President Joe Biden said last week dropping COVID-19 mask requirements entirely was ‘probably premature’.
While Florida recommends face masks for the general public, it has at no point made them compulsory, with Governor Ron DeSantis being staunchly against mandates.
While some cities, including Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Hillsborough (which includes Tampa), have had mask requirements, DeSantis signed an executive order in May last year that banned local governments and school systems from imposing Covid-19 restrictions, including related to masks.
During a White House COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said officials were ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the direction of the pandemic given the rate at which Omicron cases are declining nationwide.
She added that the CDC is currently examining its guidance and that it ‘will be updated soon.’
An update could be expected late February or early March, giving President Joe Biden the opportunity to announce it right around the State of the Union on March 1, CNBC reported.
The White House has been under fire for dragging its feet to update COVID-19 health guidelines like mask-wearing even as a majority of states have raced to drop or roll back restrictions in recent weeks.
A number of states are set to lift mask mandates in the coming weeks.
Washington will lift its mandate tomorrow (February 18), while Connecticut will lift a state-wide school mask mandate on February 28.
Illinois and Massachusetts will lift a state-wide mask mandate on February 28, followed by Washington D.C. that will lift a city-wide mandate on March 1.
School mask mandates will lifted in Rhode Island and New Jersey on March 4 and March 7 respectively, while Oregon will lift its universal mask mandate and school mask mandate on March 31.
Meanwhile, a number of states have out-right banned the implementation of mask mandates, including Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Arizona, Iowa, North Dakota and Montana.
At Wednesday’s briefing Walensky acknowledged the fatigue brought on by public mandates, two years into the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘We know that you have many questions regarding what prevention strategies are really necessary for this moment, especially as people are so eager to remove them,’ the medical expert said.
She suggested the White House was looking at a new phase that included transitioning from the current stage while being ready for the threat of a new variant.
‘We want to give people a break from things like mask-wearing when these metrics are better, and then have the ability to reach for them again should things worsen,’ Walensky explained.
Nationwide, cases are down 44 percent over the past week, according to data from Johns Hopkins, and the 151,056 average daily infections are a far fall from the 800,000 per day reached at the Omicron surge’s peak in mid-January
The U.S. is currently averaging 2,306 COVID deaths per day, over the past week. The figure has hovered in the 2,400 to 2,500 range in recent weeks, and is now showing early signs that it will start to fall
In 17 states, cases have dropped more than 70 percent over the past two weeks
‘If and when we update our guidance, we will communicate that clearly. And it will be based on the data and the science.’
COVID testing czar Dr. Tom Inglesby underscored the CDC’s position during a CNN interview earlier on Wednesday morning, encouraging kids in schools to use ‘whatever’ material is available to cover their faces despite studies showing some cloth masks may not be effective in stopping the virus.
‘Cloth masks are better than no masks. Surgical masks are better than cloth masks. So whatever mask is available and fits well for kids should be used,’ Inglesby told CNN.
The Omicron strain was first discovered by South African officials in late-November and quickly took the world by storm. It caused COVID cases to spike in much of the western world, and infections in the U.S. rocketed to a record of 800,000 per day in mid-January.
Omicron quickly burned out and ran out of steam, though. Daily cases have plummeted to about 147,000 average per day, according to the CDC, down 40 percent over the past week.
The average rate of COVID-linked hospital admissions fell by 28 percent, Walensky said at the briefing.
Deaths have flattened as well, down nine percent over the past week according to the CDC. Mortality figures from Omicron never reached the same heights as the Delta variant over summer, or the winter 2021 COVID surge, as the strain is more mild than previous versions of the virus and the U.S. population is now largely vaccinated.
Experts are hopeful that its high infection rate combined with the variant’s relatively mild nature spells the end of the pandemic coming soon.
