No Nutcracker For Me?

[YouOverThere]

OK, maybe I over-reacted. I bought a ticket to this evening's performance of The Nutcracker only to find that after I got there that anyone who had a drink or a bag of popcorn or any other snack could take off their facemask. There were a number of people around me who therefore weren't wearing facemasks (and a number of people in the very cramped hallways who weren't wearing facemasks). I got panicky and left. Entrance was restricted to vaccinated only and I'm only 2 months past my booster and my only co-morbidity is my age, so maybe the risk was low. But just before I left for the theater, I had seen a news headline that stated that DC is one of the leading covid hotspots in the USA (and actually has a higher per capita rate than any state).

The Strathmore (in the DC suburbs) and the Meyerhof (in Baltimore) have completely eliminated food and beverage sales. The Kennedy Center initially discontinued food and beverage sales, then during warm weather allowed sales on the outdoor terrace, and finally restored sales as the previous wave died down, but food and drinks are not allowed in the theaters.

[volcanohunter]

In my parts food and drink were banned from theaters and sports arenas only days ago, in response to Omicron. Prior to that people were seated at full capacity and taking off their masks to eat and drink in very close proximity that wouldn't be allowed in restaurants. That didn't make sense to me.

[canbelto]

I guess I view it from the perspective that for 8 hours a day I'm cramped in a tiny room with 30 kids who are constantly tugging at their masks, coughing, sneezing, and getting sent home with covid. So any behaviors at the theater seem mild.

[YouOverThere]

1 hour ago, canbelto said:

 

According to the theater manager, this particular theater, apparently because food and drinks are allowed in the theater itself, falls under the same rules as restaurants and bars and therefore patrons are allowed to unmask if they purchased something to eat or drink. The problem that I have with this is that the audience is crammed closer together than the patrons in any restaurant or bar that I've been in.

Edited December 24, 2021 by YouOverThere

[dirac]

Where I live the restaurants aren't even bothering with spacing patrons out any more, so I'm not sure, given the contagious qualities of the original virus and the variants, that spacing makes much difference indoors unless it is considerable. I'm guessing you would have been relatively safe but given the advent of Omicron bolting was not an excessive reaction, particularly if infection rates are jumping in your area.

[ECat]

21 hours ago, YouOverThere said:

OK, maybe I over-reacted. I bought a ticket to this evening's performance of The Nutcracker only to find that after I got there that anyone who had a drink or a bag of popcorn or any other snack could take off their facemask. There were a number of people around me who therefore weren't wearing facemasks (and a number of people in the very cramped hallways who weren't wearing facemasks). I got panicky and left. Entrance was restricted to vaccinated only and I'm only 2 months past my booster and my only co-morbidity is my age, so maybe the risk was low. But just before I left for the theater, I had seen a news headline that stated that DC is one of the leading covid hotspots in the USA (and actually has a higher per capita rate than any state).

The Strathmore (in the DC suburbs) and the Meyerhof (in Baltimore) have completely eliminated food and beverage sales. The Kennedy Center initially discontinued food and beverage sales, then during warm weather allowed sales on the outdoor terrace, and finally restored sales as the previous wave died down, but food and drinks are not allowed in the theaters.

I am so sorry that you were in this situation and I would have done the same exact thing. 

[cubanmiamiboy]

I applaud your personal decision. Exactly for that....for being personal and not forced upon.

We don't have forced mask mandates down here. It is optional on indoor settings. 

[YouOverThere]

4 hours ago, cubanmiamiboy said:

We don't have forced mask mandates down here. It is optional on indoor settings. 

And you have a higher infection rate and a higher fatality rate than we do. Florida mandates vaccinations against 12 different diseases in order to attend school (either public or private) or be in a daycare facility, so don't expect anyone to believe that resistance to covid mask or vaccine mandates is based on any sort of "individual rights" considerations.

Edited December 26, 2021 by YouOverThere

[cubanmiamiboy]

1 hour ago, YouOverThere said:

And you have a higher infection rate and a higher fatality rate than we do. Florida mandates vaccinations against 12 different diseases in order to attend school (either public or private) or be in a daycare facility, so don't expect anyone to believe that resistance to covid mask or vaccine mandates is based on any sort of "individual rights" considerations.

I don't expect anything, dear. I just stated a fact. A fact being that you left the theater on your own account. That nobody forced you to. And that I find great that you could do so.  As your individual right. That's it. 

Peace out. 😘

Edited December 26, 2021 by cubanmiamiboy

[YouOverThere]

4 hours ago, cubanmiamiboy said:

I don't expect anything, dear. I just stated a fact. A fact being that you left the theater on your own account. That nobody forced you to. And that I find great that you could do so.  As your individual right. That's it. 

Peace out. 😘

I think that everyone knows what you meant, Unless there is a safety issue or if performers are using the aisles, audience members are never prohibited from leaving at any time.

Edited December 26, 2021 by YouOverThere

[cubanmiamiboy]

1 hour ago, YouOverThere said:

I think that everyone knows what you meant, Unless there is a safety issue or if performers are using the aisles, audience members are never prohibited from leaving at any time.

Right. And so I was reflecting on that. How great it is to do so. You know....escaping the destructive weapon that is totalitarian communist Cuba has probably made me paranoid about restrictions.  Asking for permission to leave a place....asking for permission to enter a place etc. So you leaving the theater on your own account,  even it it looks ridiculous,  is something I don't take for granted after 28 years on that he'll of a country/system.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

On 12/23/2021 at 8:34 PM, YouOverThere said:

OK, maybe I over-reacted.

Nope. Despite being boosted, being scrupulous about masking / hand hygiene, limiting my indoor activities to brief forays to the grocery store / pharmacy once omicron made its way here, and living in a city where the vast majority of the adult population is vaxxed and everyone is masked, I still managed to get covid this week. Fortunately my symptoms are mild thus far—Thank you, vaccines!—but clearly the new variant is (ahem) nothing to sneeze at, especially if there are immune-compromised or people with co-morbidities in your community for whom infection might well turn out to be severe.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2021 by Kathleen O'Connell

[volcanohunter]

Oh gosh. Get well soon, @Kathleen O'Connell! 

[Kathleen O'Connell]

59 minutes ago, volcanohunter said:

Oh gosh. Get well soon, @Kathleen O'Connell! 

Thank you! I'm just sick enough to have a ready excuse for not doing anything I don't really want to 😉 

That being said, please treat this new variant with respect ... 

 

[dirac]

On 12/25/2021 at 9:25 PM, YouOverThere said:

And you have a higher infection rate and a higher fatality rate than we do. Florida mandates vaccinations against 12 different diseases in order to attend school (either public or private) or be in a daycare facility, so don't expect anyone to believe that resistance to covid mask or vaccine mandates is based on any sort of "individual rights" considerations.

Yes, and the Florida case rate is jumping again. Hospitalizations rising as well. It is fortunate that the new variant seems to be milder than the previous ones.

[aurora]

1 hour ago, dirac said:

Yes, and the Florida case rate is jumping again. Hospitalizations rising as well. It is fortunate that the new variant seems to be milder than the previous ones.

and of course yesterday's Miami City Ballet Nutcracker performance was cancelled due to Covid.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CX9CKC7uWqz/

 

[Quiggin]

Quote

Despite being boosted, being scrupulous about masking / hand hygiene, limiting my indoor activities to brief forays to the grocery store / pharmacy once omicron made its way here

Thanks for the alert, Kathleen. and hope you've shaken this off soon. Here in San Francisco omicron has not yet really hit, though our R number has doubled in a month to 2.1. We're pretty well vacinated – 80-90% – and most everyone in my neighborhood seems to wear a mask on the street. So that's a little reassuring, though the fact that omicron is just a notch behind measles in its transmittability is not.

Bob Wachter at University of California, San Francisco, while concerned, says, "Omicron may turn out to be a 6-8 week hurricane, doing a lot of damage but moving through quickly." That's based on numbers from South Africa. More here of his level-headed commentary:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1473787861056901124.html

Edited December 27, 2021 by Quiggin

[Kathleen O'Connell]

39 minutes ago, Quiggin said:

We're pretty well vacinated – 80-90% – and most everyone in my neighborhood seems to wear a mask on the street. So that's a little reassuring, though the fact that omicron is just a notch behind measles in its transmittability is not.

This was the point of my post: Omicron is blowing through NYC despite the city's high vaccination rate and wide acceptance of mitigation measures like masking and social distancing—even outdoors. (I will note that the tables nonetheless still appear to be full in the bars and restaurants in my neighborhood ... ). Knowing this, I'd say @YouOverThere didn't overreact: the behaviors that might have been safe (or at least safe-ish) for vaccinated people taking reasonable precautions a month ago are riskier now.

Fingers crossed that Dr. Wachter's assessment is correct! 

PS: I know someone who was just diagnosed with Covid despite being vaxxed and boosted and having been previously infected earlier in the pandemic. It's like Omicron looked at their immune system and just laughed.

 

[FPF]

14 hours ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

Nope. Despite being boosted, being scrupulous about masking / hand hygiene, limiting my indoor activities to brief forays to the grocery store / pharmacy once omicron made its way here, and living in a city where the vast majority of the adult population is vaxxed and everyone is masked, I still managed to get covid this week. Fortunately my symptoms are mild thus far—Thank you, vaccines!—but clearly the new variant is (ahem) nothing to sneeze at, especially if there are immune-compromised or people with co-morbidities in your community for whom infection might well turn out to be severe.

 

 

Hope you’re feeling better soon, Kathleen.