I guess I have not been clear enough. The virus changes its DNA (really RNA, but it's basically the same as far as this is concerned) as it infects people over time, so you aren't isolating it to "central Florida" you isolate to a cluster of infected individuals that were all *in the same location at the same time*. I am saying, as a trained epidemiologist and COVID hospitalist studying this disease since December, that this will NOT be a winning defense for Disney because the science IS there. It makes no sense to dispute the science because there will be thousands of experts ready and willing to stand by it. It's not something that Disney will even try to do. They would look like fools if they did. I really don't understand why this the uncontroversial point is being given so much time on this otherwise interesting thread.I’m still not seeing how this is anything more than a patient saying I have COVID-19 and I went to WDW three weeks ago. I don’t follow your statement that the “patients will do it.” The current patient sure, but how will that patient know who exposed them?
While courts have embraced DNA testing as probative evidence, evidence that relies on the genetic footprint of a virus must still need to be statistically significant. DNA tests are admissible because of the very long odds against two people having identical DNA. It won’t be enough to say that we know this virus‘s DNA was present in central Florida. Unless DNA tests permit tracing the virus in an exposed person back to a specifically identifiable exposure source it will be of little use in litigation. Perhaps that is what you are saying. As I said, I can’t tell.
I think you are also trying to ”respond” to arguments that haven’t necessarily been made. I’ve never taken the position that proving causation from WDW would be impossible or that the science isn’t there. I’ve left open the possibility that, however factually difficult it might be, that someone might be able to prove they were exposed to the virus at WDW. Causation is an interesting topic but it relies heavily on facts and at this point, we are largely speculating about those facts. My primary point was to address the legal issues that exist even if someone could prove exposure at WDW.
ETA (because I really want this to be clear): How do we know they were at Disney and not FunSpot? Because we asked them where they went over the past 2 weeks. If they all have Disney in common, then it was Disney. So we combine contact tracing via questions AND genomics to get a really good picture. And that's just for guests. If CMs start getting sick, OSHA requires employers to report clusters to them. This isn't going to be something that's easy to hide, nor is it in Disney's best interest to hide it. The legal liability issue is an *entirely* different issue.
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