World News – United States – Disneyland and other California theme parks get rules to reopen

Large parks need to be in state’ yellow ‘level for economic recovery, with virus largely contained, which could be a long wait

California health officials on Tuesday released long-awaited advice for reopening theme parks in the state, setting targets for when attractions like Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, and Universal Studios Hollywood, in Los Angeles, will be able to open their doors For large parks, the road could be long: their counties must reach the least restrictive « yellow » level of the Covid-19 four-level economic reopening plan

As for the coronavirus cases, Orange County, home to Disneyland, is currently in the « red » or second level and Los Angeles County, the location of Universal Studios, is currently in the most restrictive “purple” level It may be months before either county meets guidelines for the “yellow” level, which requires there to be less than one cases per day per 100,000 inhabitants and a test positivity rate of less than 2% The parks have been closed since March

California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Dr Mark Ghaly released the guidelines in a video conference on Tuesday and said he believes the level guidelines can be met He said San Francisco County had met them before

« Dr Ghaly said » We don’t know when, but we know how, and I think we will continue to work hard to get there one county at a time « 

However, Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock said in a statement that the guidelines are « arbitrary » and « unworkable »

« We have proven that we can responsibly reopen, with science-based health and safety protocols strictly enforced at our theme park properties around the world, » said Mr. Potrock said « Nonetheless, the State of California continues to ignore this fact, instead imposing arbitrary guidelines which it knows to be unenforceable and which hold us to a very different standard from other companies and state-run facilities »

When the parks reopen, they will need to set up a reservation system that allows customers to book tours in advance.They will also need to screen for symptoms of guests and impose masks everywhere in the park, except when people eat and drink Larger parks, like Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood, will have to limit their capacity to 25%

Small parks in California can reopen when they reach the third level or « orange » level. They can have up to 25% capacity or 500 guests, whichever is less, and only people from County of ‘origin of the park will be allowed to visit

Disney World, the Orlando, Florida, park company reopened in July with strict social distancing and capacity requirements and there has been no major coronavirus outbreak associated with the park But the weak attendance led the company to start layoffs The pandemic disrupted many Disney lines of business, including films, theatrical productions and cruises Disneyland generated around $ 3.8 billion in revenue last year, according to Michael Nathanson , a media analyst

On Monday, a coalition of unions representing thousands of Disneyland workers told California government Gavin Newsom that it is generally happy with the sanitation measures the company has put in place to operate safely

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