Is the mouse going to cost lives?

When Florida first started getting cases in March, I was ready for the state to close. I however wasn't sure it would until Disney World did, and then I knew it was just a matter of time. In a bit of irony, or maybe god luck that they closed, my wife and I had a three-day pass ready to go for spring break.

So back then we were averaging a few hundred cases and a few deaths a day, I don't want to discount that, because it was scary. Fast forward to today, and we are averaging over ten thousand cases a day and over a hundred deaths. If it was terrible back then, it's mind-numbingly terrifying now. So what happens Disney World opens.

From CNN,

Orange County, Florida (CNN) — Despite concerns over Florida's alarmingly high coronavirus numbers, the next stage of Walt Disney World's phased reopening is here.

Today, Disney's Epcot park and Hollywood Studios opened their doors to guests for the first time since they closed on March 15. (Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom opened on July 11.)

The reopening of Epcot and Hollywood Studios also comes at a busy time for the global entertainment giant: Disneyland Paris in France opened earlier today while Disneyland Hong Kong closed just shy of a month after reopening because of a surge of Covid-19 cases there.Disneyland Paris reopens with new Covid-19 measures

Back in the US, the Florida Department of Health reported another 10,181 cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, bringing the total of cases reported throughout the pandemic to at least 301,810, according to new numbers released by the Florida Department of Health.

A total of 19,334 people are hospitalized across the state, and an additional 132 deaths -- the most deaths in one day in the state -- were reported on Tuesday,

Despite the worrisome numbers, Disney maintains that its newly enhanced safety protocols -- such as hand sanitizer, mandatory masks and social distancing -- are sufficient protection to keep cast members (its term for employees) and guests safe in the resort's hotels and theme parks.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/disney-world-epcot-reopens/index.html

Gulp

Two things about the Mouse, he has unlimited resources to clean their parks, and I bet they are not taking any guff from a visitor who isn't wearing a mask or social distancing.

Schools have minimal resources, and as far as I can tell, no school is having hard and fast mask rules with consequences for ones that don't comply.

A lot of Florida's economy is based on tourism, but tourism brings in lots of people, some of who may be infected. They, in turn, affect others. We can see that reopening was a colossal failure, racing forward with schools closing will just make things worse.

This past weekend I joked with a friend that the parks only being 25 percent full might be worth the risk, but the thing is it's not. Opening schools is a matter of life and death.

Something is stopping the state from doing everything they can from stopping the spread of the pandemic, they are not making decisions with children or teachers in mind.  Is it the mouse, the all-powerful mouse that is really pushing the agenda?