Coronavirus: Impact on Theme Parks

[witchfinder]

The most encouraging thing about that Merlin PDF is that I probably won't have to endure the Wicker Man pre-show this year if I visit ?

On the subject of vaccines, I wouldn't get too excited yet @Nicky Borrill, the Oxford one is not looking that good right now, except as something to reduce the effects of the virus, not prevent infection.

Coronavirus vaccine doubts as monkey trial shows it's 'only partially effective'

A trial of the coronavirus vaccine in rhesus macaque monkeys did not stop any of the animals from catching the virus, raising doubts about its effectiveness in humans

www.mirror.co.uk

However the Moderna one appears more promising

First human trial results raise hopes for coronavirus vaccine

The initial eight volunteers produced an antibody response from Moderna’s RNA vaccine

www.theguardian.com

 

[JammyH]

Steering the conversation slightly... but keeping in the topic of dutch theme parks. Toverland & Efteling now join Duinrell as some of the first theme parks to open in Europe. Other parks open include Schloss Beck, Serengeti Park & Fort Fun, which are located in Germany. The rest of the German and Austrian parks will open by the end of the month, with Scandinavian parks joining from the beginning of June.

Here is a Dutch vlog (with English subtitles) from Duinrell which has been operating the theme park, water park and accommodation for a fair few days now:

The main points I wanted to cover are:

-Duinrell are following the rules and requirements of the Dutch theme park association, and therefore similar measures will be implemented across toverland, Walibi & Efteling.

-On coasters which sit riders 2 abreast, every other row is left empty. This is evidenced by the dragonfly coaster in the vlog above. Red xs are marked out on the unavailable seats. There will be a similar procedure for other dutch coasters such as untamed and python, which will all be able to operate at up to 50% capacity.

-On coasters/flat rides which sit 4 abreast or more, only one in every 4 seats can be sat in. Therefore these rides will operate at a 25% capacity. An example in the video above is the Gerst Eurofighter "falcon" which can only seat 2 riders per car (normally 8). This will therefore be similar for other similar style coasters such as Lost gravity at Walibi, which will only be able to operate at 25% capacity. If you have come with your family group in this scenario, 2 of you can sit next to each other. If it is 2 riders from separate groups, they must each sit at opposite corners of the train.

Looking at the video above, for flat rides such as Huss frisbee and Huss topspin, only every fourth seat can be occupied to ensure social distancing is maintained. Therefore Huss topspins for example, will only be able to sit 10 out of 40 riders. Family groups cannot sit together as seats are marked out with crosses and therefore each rider must sit individually.

-Duinrell have also put social distancing markers on the floor so that people maintain the appropriate distancing. Every park visitor is also provided with a free bottle of hand sanitiser upon entry.

-The staff from Duinrell are using TÜV approved "sticks" to check the restraints, so that the staff don't have to come within 1.5m of the guests to check the restraints of each person on the ride.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

The most encouraging thing about that Merlin PDF is that I probably won't have to endure the Wicker Man pre-show this year if I visit ?

On the subject of vaccines, I wouldn't get too excited yet @Nicky Borrill, the Oxford one is not looking that good right now, except as something to reduce the effects of the virus, not prevent infection.

Coronavirus vaccine doubts as monkey trial shows it's 'only partially effective'

A trial of the coronavirus vaccine in rhesus macaque monkeys did not stop any of the animals from catching the virus, raising doubts about its effectiveness in humans

www.mirror.co.uk

However the Moderna one appears more promising

First human trial results raise hopes for coronavirus vaccine

The initial eight volunteers produced an antibody response from Moderna’s RNA vaccine

www.theguardian.com

Yikes... Although it is the Mirror, IF that is true, I’d be very surprised if it moved onto human trials without modification and retesting in the monkeys first. Maybe though ??‍

The moderna one is looking great, but it’s not part of the UK fast track program, so that would be next year at the earliest for us.

 

[JammyH]

Yikes... Although it is the Mirror, IF that is true, I’d be very surprised if it moved onto human trials without modification and retesting in the monkeys first. Maybe though ??‍

It's being reported from multiple sources, not just the mirror. I wouldn't be surprised though, I have had no trust in the Oxford uni vaccine or their team making wild claims from the start. A vaccine in September is next to impossible, even early next year would be a miracle.

 

[Professor]

Typical example of over promising and under delivering these vaccines promised by universities.
In academia you can get away with that approach quite a bit but in the real world it doesn't help.

We are now approaching one week on of easing lockdown in the UK. Hospital admissions are still going down (according to the government).
If that is the case, shouldn't we have more easing of lockdown?
?‍

 

[Matt N]

The Oxford vaccine has now moved on to human trials, however, so I’d assume that it worked reasonably well in macaques for them to consider human trials. If it didn’t have some form of positive effect, then they wouldn’t have approved it for human trials. I wouldn’t rule it out just yet; we need to wait until the human trials efficacy results come back next month. It’s worth noting that all monkeys did produce antibodies within 28 days of vaccination, so it would definitely reduce the virus’ severity. Maybe they just need to adjust the dosage a little?

The Moderna vaccine may not be part of the UK fastrack programme, but I’d assume that it’s part of Operation Warp Speed in the USA, which aims to have a vaccine in mass production by the end of 2020. So if that one works well, which I think it might from what early human trials have shown, then I could see the UK receiving it for mass production by early 2021.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

The Oxford vaccine has now moved on to human trials, however, so I’d assume that it worked reasonably well in macaques for them to consider human trials. If it didn’t have some form of positive effect, then they wouldn’t have approved it for human trials. I wouldn’t rule it out just yet; we need to wait until the human trials efficacy results come back next month. It’s worth noting that all monkeys did produce antibodies within 28 days of vaccination, so it would definitely reduce the virus’ severity. Maybe they just need to adjust the dosage a little?

The Moderna vaccine may not be part of the UK fastrack programme, but I’d assume that it’s part of Operation Warp Speed in the USA, which aims to have a vaccine in mass production by the end of 2020. So if that one works well, which I think it might from what early human trials have shown, then I could see the UK receiving it for mass production by early 2021.

That was my point Matt, if what the Mirror are reporting on is true, then it was an earlier stage of testing on animals, the virus has since moved on to human trials, and wouldn’t have if it hadn’t passed the previous stage.

The Moderna one may be part of the USA scheme, but that just means longer delays for other countries. The Oxford scheme would have been manufactured for the UK first, just as the Moderna will be US first.

 

[Matt N]

That was my point Matt, if what the Mirror are reporting on is true, then it was an earlier stage of testing on animals, the virus has since moved on to human trials, and wouldn’t have if it hadn’t passed the previous stage.

The Moderna one may be part of the USA scheme, but that just means longer delays for other countries. The Oxford scheme would have been manufactured for the UK first, just as the Moderna will be US first.

As you say, they may well have later adjusted the dosage or something and retested. However, it is also worth noting that antibodies were produced in all monkeys within 28 days, so the vaccine does command an immune response, which is surely what the important part is with a vaccine?

 

[SilverArrow]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1262846295607214083

 

[Nicky Borrill]

As you say, they may well have later adjusted the dosage or something and retested. However, it is also worth noting that antibodies were produced in all monkeys within 28 days, so the vaccine does command an immune response, which is surely what the important part is with a vaccine?

Oh, so the premise of the headline is misleading then? I read in the antibody study that they build quite slowly naturally... So are you saying the same thing happened with the vaccine? I should probably just bite the bullet and read a Mirror article ?

 

[Professor]

Lots of photos of what a Corona proof theme park looks like in The Netherlands (Efteling):

https://www.looopings.nl/weblog/144...n-de-Efteling-dit-zijn-alle-aanpassingen.html

 

[Hixee]

Bloody hell, some of that just looks ****ing bleak.

Fair play for trying, and good to see stuff working, I suppose, but definitely lost the 'magic'.

I think if I got to any parks this year, I'll only bother with the grotty ones. No point in doing Efteling like that.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Bloody hell, some of that just looks ****ing bleak.

Fair play for trying, and good to see stuff working, I suppose, but definitely lost the 'magic'.

I think if I got to any parks this year, I'll only bother with the grotty ones. No point in doing Efteling like that.

I read your post before viewing the photos, and I think you gave me very low expectations... On that basis, I don’t think it looks too bad... Wouldn’t impact on my day much. Although it does make it look more ‘amusement park’ so your grotty ones comment was spot on!

On another note, it’s good to see that the distancing is ‘per group’ in the NL and not per person as it was said to be earlier in this post... That means the ride capacity won’t be hit as badly as feared.

 

[SimonProD]

Seeing the footage from Duinrell I will surely not visit under this conditions. These restrictions will likely only be eased if we have either a vaccine - which at least 70% of the populace need to take - or herd immunity with at least 70% having had the virus.

With a vaccine these measures might be eased earlier if a park admits only costumers who can proof by showing their vaccination pass that they are already vaccinated. Some might cry "forced vaccination" but I assume that as soon as a vaccine is availbale that all airlines as well as most countries immigration will demand a proof of vaccination.

 

[JammyH]

Bloody hell, some of that just looks ****ing bleak.

Fair play for trying, and good to see stuff working, I suppose, but definitely lost the 'magic'.

I think if I got to any parks this year, I'll only bother with the grotty ones. No point in doing Efteling like that.

Here is what Efteling currently looks like. This footage was taken from one of the two test days. The park has now opened up today to the GP. I personally think it looks ok and would still be able to enjoy my day out.

A couple of key points:

-At Efteling you must check the restraints yourself. This is different to Toverland and Duinrell where they have the checking sticks.

-Attractions such as droomvlucht and python can operate on 1/2 capacity.

-Symbolica can operate on up to 2/3 capacity, every middle car is left empty due to how the cars interact on the way round. However, only one household group is permitted per car and therefore if you have 2 groups of 1 person, you would only have 2 people riding out of a possible 18 riders.

-Joris (GCI woodie) only operates on 1/3 capacity. This is different to troy at Toverland which operates on 50% capacity.

-The distancing is done by markers on the queue railings and on the floor, white is where you can stand, red is prohibited. It is fairly self explanatory and relies mainly on common sense. The fairytale forest now has a 1 way system and relies on the guests to keep themselves 1.5m apart.

-The staff at Efteling do not have any forms of PPE but keep well away from the guests. This is different to at Toverland where the staff check the restraints with the special sticks but are wearing face shields.

-Single rider queues will remain closed.

-Fabula (4D cinema) is open with the appropriate social distancing inside.

I've just taken a look at the current queue times for opening day and the maximum wait is 30 minutes for Carnaval festival, so on the whole the queue times don't seem too bad. Obviously, it is midweek so perhaps the park isn't at maximum capacity today, so the weekend will tell what it's really like with the park fully pre-booked.

 

[BlueSonicHD]

Forced public vacation is my worst nightmare ?
Maybe a antibody test cert. even then that’s a form of discrimination

 

[witchfinder]

Oh, so the premise of the headline is misleading then? I read in the antibody study that they build quite slowly naturally... So are you saying the same thing happened with the vaccine? I should probably just bite the bullet and read a Mirror article ?

Here's the equivalent bit of the story from the BBC to save you soiling your eyes

A vaccine pioneered by the University of Oxford is also being tested in people, but there are no results from those trials yet. However, concerns have been raised about the results of experiments in monkeys.

Tests showed vaccinated animals had less severe symptoms and did not get pneumonia. However, they were not completely protected from the virus and signs of it were detected at the same level in the monkeys' noses as in unvaccinated animals.

Prof Eleanor Riley, from the University of Edinburgh, said: "If similar results were obtained in humans, the vaccine would likely provide partial protection against disease in the vaccine recipient but would be unlikely to reduce transmission in the wider community."

However, until human trials have been performed it is impossible to know how the vaccine will perform in people.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52677203

That was from 2 days ago so there may be more up to date news that @Matt N is referring to about the antibodies. But based on the above that vaccine as it stands is not going to prevent people transmitting the virus.

 

[Will]

-At Efteling you must check the restraints yourself.

Haha, enthusiasts will love that one - Goliath at WH might even be half-decent

 

[Matt N]

There will be some good airtime in store for those who visit Efteling, then!

 

[Nicky Borrill]

There will be some good airtime in store for those who visit Efteling, then!

if only they had an airtime coaster... And no, Joris is not the answer, more airtime in Wickerman!

Here's the equivalent bit of the story from the BBC to save you soiling your eyes

A vaccine pioneered by the University of Oxford is also being tested in people, but there are no results from those trials yet. However, concerns have been raised about the results of experiments in monkeys.

Tests showed vaccinated animals had less severe symptoms and did not get pneumonia. However, they were not completely protected from the virus and signs of it were detected at the same level in the monkeys' noses as in unvaccinated animals.

Prof Eleanor Riley, from the University of Edinburgh, said: "If similar results were obtained in humans, the vaccine would likely provide partial protection against disease in the vaccine recipient but would be unlikely to reduce transmission in the wider community."

However, until human trials have been performed it is impossible to know how the vaccine will perform in people.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52677203

That was from 2 days ago so there may be more up to date news that @Matt N is referring to about the antibodies. But based on the above that vaccine as it stands is not going to prevent people transmitting the virus.

Thanks for clearing that up, so they seem to have progressed purely in the hope that it reacts differently in Humans? Is that likely? Is it common, or even heard of?