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Originally Posted by lindaelane
If you make this trip by plane, I recommend getting the ticket now so that you can change plans if there is a new spike and you need to.
I think it is safe here as long as recommended precautions (masks, social distance) are followed. While cases in Florida are increasing, they are among a younger demographic - average age mid-30s - , and some but not all of the increase in numbers is attributable to more testing.
Deaths have not increased anywhere, including Florida, even though cases here and elsewhere have increased for weeks.
I see plenty of people in the pools. Current talk is that there will be club meetings in person, though we will need to wear masks, of course. I go to restaurants and see plenty of people dining-in. Servers wear masks and patrons are socially distanced. Golf goes on as it has.
For me the bottom line is that people fall into two camps. This is contagious, there is not a vaccine, we can't close down forever. This means a good percent of people will get the virus. The two camps:
(Camp A): I am at risk of death or serious health complications so I will isolate myself for as long as it takes.
(Camp B) I cannot stay isolated forever, the shut-down was for purposes of keeping hospitals from being overwhelmed, they are not overwhelmed, and I am going to go out even if I could get sick.
Hopefully Camp B folks wear masks and keep distant. I'm Camp B - I can't stay in my home for months or years, so I use caution but go out. If I was Camp A, I would not come - too many chances to catch the virus on the road. If you are Camp A you are going out as little as possible, so I do not see how you would enjoy coming here.
Your northern state will be "open" by October (unless we have a second wave, in which case all bets are off) so its likely your northern state will be having an increase at the time you want to come here. We always knew openings would cause increased cases, but we knew we could not close forever without eventually doing more harm to people that the virus itself.
So flexibility is key - get a ticket that can be rescheduled or don't have irrevocable plans to drive. Be ready to make a final decision closer to the day.
In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention *esti*mated in May that the coronavirus kills about 0.26 percent of the people it infects, about 1 in 400 people. This is an average - older people and people with underlying conditions won't do as well, but it is not fatal to most people healthy enough to travel, such as yourselves.
One thing that is a little different here is people who are not wearing masks - It is not a majority, but I think there are far too many. That difference is likely to persist since, sadly, it seems to be political and there are political differences, on average, between The Villages and northern states.
It was much better at Publix last time I went, though I am not sure the improvement is permanent. I can hope. You could check closer to the day to see how we are doing with masks if this is a big factor in your decision.
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I am probably more of a loose camp B and I may even be more of a camp C. I feel as though contracting the virus is pretty much inevitable for me. The horses are out of the barn, the dust masks that people are wearing are not going to prevent the spread to susceptible people unfortunately. The virus is tiny and preventing the spread would require medical grade masks which most of us do not have access to.
I have a parent in an Independent living facility and they are taking very prudent precautions. Everyone wears a mask. There are strict social distancing rules. They have meals served in their apartments. If a resident even gets tested for the viruses, the facility basically goes on a lock down with residents confined to their apartments. If I was in group A and wanted to greatly minimize my risk of exposure to this virus, I would live where she is living. No question.
Active adults, living in single family homes in an active adult community with lots of shared group amenities are simply going to experience a higher level of risk unless they can stay inside of their homes until a safe and effective vaccine is developed.
The best thing that people can do is if they are symptomatic - stay home. Do not put on a mask and head out to Publix - stay home. The risk of asymptomatic transmission appears to be, thankfully, very low. It's the symptomatic, sneezing, coughing folks (masks or no masks) who are spreading this virus around.