Seeing as new travel limitations/recommendations (I wouldn’t call them ‘restrictions’ yet) are being put into place daily, does anyone think this could jeopardize LRK3D next month??
Did LRK3D cancel when H1NI hit or the ebola scare?
You should stay home. It’ll mean shorter lines for lunch.
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Wow. I was kinda wondering the same thing. :uhoh:
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You should also stay home, all the bargain deals will be mine.
In all seriousness, people are totally freaking out and they shouldn’t.
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Lexington had its first case of the virus yesterday. I wonder if they will make any announcements when the event gets closer, but I would be shocked if it were effected.
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They just canceled South by Southwest which brings $350 million to the economy of Austin (a city with no known cases of Covid19. I am sure the city of Lexington has a plan that includes LRK3D. Things have progressed to the over reaction stage everywhere. They never canceled big events because of the threat from flu (which has already killed thousands in the US).
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At this point in time, the reason any event will cancel when not asked or suggested to do so by the a gov’t agency is not to stop the spread of coronavirus. It is because ticket sales are down due to irrational public fear, and that causes vendors and performers to be anxious about reduced revenue and they start backing out.
It becomes a cycle for big performance events like SXSW - if the crowds stay home out of unreasoning fear, the vendors and performers have less reason to attend, and the more of those that back out, the less reason there is for spectators to go. The event gets caught in a whirlpool of irrationality. There will be a lot of this phenomenon during spring and summer, and it does not necessarily mean that there is necessarily a risk at those events.
Statistically, no one is going to die from coronavirus from LRK3D 2020. There is no reason not to go.
Kentucky has a population of 4.5 million people, and to date 1 of them has been diagnosed with coronavirus. That is not an outbreak.
Of the 7 states that share a border with Kentucky representing many millions of people, 3 of those states have reported a grand total of 7 cases among them. That is not an outbreak or an epidemic.
It may well be that at last some LRK3D 2020 spectators will do what people do, be irrationally anxious and stay home out of their own fearfulness. Not due to actual risk from coronavirus.
If there’s a chance the lines will be shorter and there will be less competition for the vendor specials, that’s a great reason to go right there! 
Map of reported cases
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/…-us-cases.html
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it’s here, people under 65 are lower risk, I’d be cancelling any plans for a cruise but for a big outdoor event like LRKD3 while it attracts a big crowd, it’s not confined in an enclosed area like a stadium or movie theatre - except on SJ day which you can avoid by not getting tickets for the stadium? or splurge by doing the whole VIP thing.
I was in a Wegman’s today - amazing - cleaners, toilet paper, paper towels wiped out, gone. Apparently pasta must be a good combatant for COVID-19 as most every shelve of pasta was cleaned out!
I’ve not heard of too many domestic flight restrictions as much as many airlines are decreasing flights due to low passenger demand.
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I agree that an outdoor event should be low risk (and I am an epidemiologist). That said, my University has just cancelled all events larger than 100 people to reduce the possibility of transmission. Similarly, staff at several cancer centers are not allowed to travel in the US for meetings to avoid potential spread of the virus. The thinking is that if the MDs get infected, they might transmit the virus to their immunocompromised patients.
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Ugh. I haven’t been since 2014. I took the week off and was planning on going, but am reluctant to book a room or buy tickets until I know this is a go. Guess I’ll be a last minute purchaser if the event runs as planned.
They posted in a comment on their page that they have no plans of canceling the event. Just an FYI.
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Oh you chickens! I’m going and I’m going and I’m not even going to wash my hands! 🤪
Ok, sadly I’m not really going (and I probably will wash my hands). I agree that the risk at an outdoor event in an area with basically zero cases seems low. On the other hand, perhaps they haven’t had many cases In KY because so far there has not been much travel there from other areas that have higher exposure. On a third hand, one of my bosses and his wife left for a Nile River cruise about 2 weeks ago and was going to be back in the office this week. Then last night I read that there’s a Nile River Cruise quarantined with 26 Americans on it. Is it my boss? No idea. When they left, was it even on my radar that they would be at risk? Definitely not. So which hand does that leave me on? Play it by ear.
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Sooo large outdoor event is safe. How about motel rooms, restaurants, gas stations, public restrooms. Awaiting the vast return of traveling spring break college students here. All 48,516 of them. U of KY= 29,182. Midway is 1,600+
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Hand washing, the thorough recommended way. Sounds silly, but honestly it does make a difference. Thinking about what you are touching and what you are doing about it afterward. Maybe wear latex gloves in the bathrooms? They can be purchased at a drugstore.
Other than that, how many just-traveled college students will you be next to at the event? You can be mindful about that as well, and just move if you get the willies about some stranger.
If this were mid-summer, I might have a different opinion. Depending on what is happening then. But for next month in KY, would totally go and enjoy. Mindfully.
Just one opinion from someone who is not an epi-whatever, but who thinks about the numbers and probabilities, and estimates. 
Here’s another reason to go in April – go now, just to get out to a fun event while you can. By summer the chance to go to public events may be very constrained.
Hopefully by this time next year the coronavirus situation is no longer the emergency that it is becoming now. But for the next few months it’s conceivable that more events will cancel than we’d like. Go and enjoy now while you can!
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As long as you don’t fit into one of the higher risk categories (over 60, smoker, immune disease or some other chronic type illness/disease then I’d still plan to go. it’s an outdoor event where for the most part you can keep a several foot (what are they saying now 6’?) from other people. Might be difficult at some of the more popular viewing spots. Its a hard call to cancel as wouldn’t this be a selection competition for the maybe Olympics? ANd certainly if you’re planning on driving vs. flying. Sadly the shopping vendors could take a huge hit. It’s a mess all the way around. On the one hand I think there is some over panic - Did they cancel for the anthrax scare, H1N1 or Ebola? which have a higher death rate. For the most part, treatment is the same as flu, unless your respiratory system is compromised and that tends to happen to the higher risk population.
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:lol::lol::lol: I’m totally stealing this phrase!
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Oh, I am definitely hoping all goes as planned!! Since it is an outside event, I think the odds are good for people to be able to keep a safe distance from each other, and ample fresh air flow, etc. Am just wondering, though, as (so many have stated), what the outcome would also be for all the “supporting” factors: Volunteers, bathrooms/port a johns, all vendors, food suppliers, airlines, hotels…all that.
And what about, even if you don’t get sick, you are exposed to someone who does have it, and your “day job” is in a hospital, or a school/college, or a nursing home…you may have to quarantine when you get back. You may need to factor that into the time you are already taking off to go to the event to start with.
I know it sounds far fetched, but maybe not…one can hope things are a lot more well controlled by the time it comes around next month.
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Our group is planning to go, and crossing fingers and toes it isn’t canceled! Hotels and airplanes are the bigger risk IMO, not the event itself, so we are willing to just do a lot of hand-washing, wipe down surfaces, etc . . . but we aren’t yet willing to stop getting out and living our lives in the current circumstances! Obviously things could change in ways that affect the analysis, but right now we see insufficient reason to cancel our plans.
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