Downtown Disney welcomes fans back as the county experiences a surge in hospitalizations.
On Thursday, Downtown Disney reopened to the public with new health protocols, after Orange County reported an all-time high of new coronavirus cases. Over the last three weeks, hospitalizations in the county have increased by 97%, according to health officials. The county has 22,650 cumulative cases to date and has reported over 1,000 positive cases received daily.
A quick look at the current line outside of the Disneyland Resort 🚶 Downtown Disney opens at 10 am! Are you waiting? #DowntownDisney #DisneylandResort pic.twitter.com/lcM8g2CSOE
— Disneyland News Today (@dlnt) July 9, 2020
Following months of closure, fans starting lining up outside the shopping district from as early as 5:00 am. The scenes seen within the stores clearly showed that acquiring Disney merch overrides the risk of transmission for fans.
Downtown Disney just said “come on in” smh pic.twitter.com/BYX9c0NhbJ
— Fer Nando 🌮 (@YesIAmFern) July 9, 2020
The park has introduced new protocols to reduce the spread of COVID-19, such as spending high-touch interactive areas, social distancing measures, temperature screenings, and mask requirements.
Along with the usual CDC compliant health and safety measures that have been introduced, the Disneyland website also issued a warning with the reopening statement that read “By visiting the Disneyland Resort, you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19.” There was also a letter was written to Governor Gavin Newsom from Disneyland employees expressing concerns about returning to work.
While Disneyland remains closed and has changed its initial reopening day of July 17 back, the desire for parents and kids to get out and about may result in a further surge in cases.
Featured Image: @The1stDrop via Twitter