Disney Park closes today after authorities discover Guest tested positive for COVID-19

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort has closed its gates today following the discovery by authorities that a Guest who visited the park over the weekend was infected with COVID-19.

The Disney Resort, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company and the local government spoke about the decision to close the park, saying the choice was “an abundance of caution.”

A visitor who recently arrived in Hong Kong from Indonesia had completed her mandatory 21-day quarantine, and following the completion of the quarantine, she tested positive for the virus. However, authorities say she has a “low viral load,” which is clinical-speak for “a low amount of the virus in her body.” This lead authorities to believe the young Indonesian woman is a repositive case, meaning she likely had the virus and recovered, but still tested positive.

She visited the park on Sunday.

Hong Kong Disneyland to Reopen on Friday – The Hollywood Reporter

According to the Hong Kong Disneyland website, anyone who was present in the park between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 14 is required by the government to be tested for the virus:“Hong Kong Disneyland Park Temporary Closure on Nov 17 (Wed)

In an abundance of caution, Hong Kong Disneyland Park will be closed on Nov 17 (Wed) to ensure relevant Cast Members can complete the test sooner. Guests who planned to visit the park on Nov 17 are advised to visit on another day.

The government issued a compulsory testing notice requiring any persons who were present at the park at any time during the period from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Nov 14 (Sun) to undergo compulsory testing for COVID-19 on or before Nov 18 (Thu).”

The order for compulsory testing applies to both Guests and Cast Members who were in the park on Sunday, and testing must be completed by Thursday, November 18.

Disney Park closed after a singular positive COVID test set to reopen November 3

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks

Shanghai Disney Resort, which suddenly closed its gates to any new Guests on Sunday evening, October 31, will reopen Wednesday, November 3, according to the Shanghai Disney Resort website.

The announcement reads as follows:

“Shanghai Disneyland and Disney Town will resume operations on November 3, 2021 (Wednesday). On November 3, the operating hours of Shanghai Disneyland will be 10:00-19:00, and the operating hours of Disney Town will be 10:00-21:00.
All cast and third-party staff returning to work in Shanghai Disneyland and Disney Town have completed two nucleic acid tests within 48 hours in accordance with the requirements of epidemic prevention and control, and the results are all negative, and will strictly follow the city’s epidemic prevention and control Requirements for autonomous health monitoring. All environmental samples collected were negative.”

The Resort, located in Chuansha New Town, Pudong, Shanghai, China, made the announcement after remaining closed for two days following the news that one singular visitor over the weekend had indeed tested positive for the novel coronavirus. In an effort to stop any potential spread, the Resort closed its gates and began administering COVID tests to Guests who were already on property enjoying the parks.

The move on the part of the Resort, which is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the Shanghai Shendi Group, highlights the efforts China has been taking to keep the COVID-19 virus at bay in its country. The reaction on the part of the Disney Resort seems extreme by many accounts, but Shanghai Disney must adhere to restrictions and guidelines set forth by the Chinese government, whether Disney’s guidelines in this scenario would have called for such a closure or not.

The Shanghai Disney Resort closed at the very beginning of the pandemic after the never-before-seen COVID-19 virus was first detected in the city of Wuhan, China. It remained closed until mid-May of 2020, and even when it did reopen, the Resort welcomed Guests back in a very different environment under very different restrictions.

Though it had seen over 12 million Guests in 2019, the Chinese government only permitted the Disney Park to open its gates to 24,000 Guests per day. Disney CEO Bob Chapek had said he would lower that number further so that Cast Members could implement all the procedures and protocols that had been set in place to ward off any massive new outbreaks of the virus.

Guests returned to their beloved Chinese Disney Park devoid of parades, bare faces, and bare hands–gloves were required on many rides, and temperature checks at the gates were mandatory before entry to the parks. The park was able to increase its capacity by 50% on August 24, 2020.

Shanghai Disneyland tickets sellout for opening day

Florida now has lowest COVID rates in the U.S.

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks

Via DisDining.com

Florida now has the lowest number of COVID cases among the 50 United States of America, based on daily averages.

The Sunshine State is currently averaging 1,700 new cases daily, or approximately 8 cases for every 100,000 Floridians. The only other state in the union to have single digits per 100,000 residents is Hawaii.

Shocked?

Many who have watched the most recent numbers of COVID infections and hospitalizations and deaths related to the virus in Florida are very surprised, especially when you consider that in mid-August, a little over 2 months ago, the state saw an average of 25,000 new cases every day of the week. That’s about 116 cases per 100,000 residents.

In just over two months’ time, daily averages in Florida have dipped a remarkable 90%. The state of California, which has arguably the most stringent mask and vaccine requirements of these 50 states, sits at a daily average of more than twice Florida’s, and the daily average of new cases in Florida is less than a quarter of the daily average of new cases in Vermont, the state that boasts the highest number of vacated residents by percentages.

These are positive things for Florida, and they signal the beginning of two things: first, the mud-slinging across the party lines and politicizing of the virus, its spread, how to handle the spread, and what role the government is Constitutionally capable of playing in individual’s choices about wearing masks and getting the vaccine, and second, a talk about what these improved COVID case numbers might mean for crowds at Walt Disney World this holiday season.

We already know that Disney’s new Annual Passholder program that debuted in early September will play a role in attendance numbers at the parks. At the end of last week, almost all spots for New Year’s Eve in the parks were already booked, and Christmas Day was in 2nd place.

We’re far enough along in the pandemic to know that a rise in cases comes in waves–numbers rise; then they peak, and then they recede, and that’s been the case for a while now. What we don’t know is the timeline: when will the next significant rise in cases come?

We’re not entirely convinced that a rise or a recession in the number of COVID cases will necessarily encourage fans to head to the parks for the holidays. Then again, we aren’t entirely convinced that the lower number of cases will preclude fans from coming.

Most Americans feels adamantly one way or the other about the virus, and you can bet that anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers won’t let some numbers–large or small–on a CDC press release dictate to them what they will and won’t do with their holiday season.

And in the same respect, those who won’t leave home without a mask–if they leave home at all–will most likely not be swayed by the aforementioned numbers either.

Disney Cruise Line “under review” for possible vaccination requirement violations

Posted on by Mathew Corn Uncategorized

According to a list released by The Orlando Sentinel, Disney Cruise Line and other carriers are being looked at by the Florida Department of Health for possible violations when it comes to making requirements about COVID-19 vaccinations.

Disney Cruise Line is among over 100 potential violators of the COVID-19 vaccine passport law in Florida, a law that went into effect on September 16, but that is currently being disputed in the court system. It is the Florida Department of Health that is tasked with enforcing the law at this time. When the department finds a violation, it is also tasked with imposing fines of $5,000 per offense.

At this time, Disney Cruise Line joins other cruise lines on the list of possible offenders–those “under review” by the department. Other lines include Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, each of which operates homeports in the state of Florida.

Norwegian Cruise Line currently has a federal court order on its side that is preventing the state of Florida from imposing fines for any alleged violations made by the Miami-Dade County-based organization, which is good news for Disney Cruise Line and its competitors, as the Florida Department of Health is holding on enforcing the law and imposing fines on any of the other cruise lines that are currently listed as possible violators of the law until there is an outcome from Norwegian’s scenario.

President Biden Meets with Disney CEO Bob Chapek During a Push for Vaccine Mandates

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks

President Joe Biden met the other day with business executives and CEOs from major organizations across the country, including CEO of the Walt Disney Company Bob Chapek to discuss the importance of vaccinations for U.S. workers.

The meeting followed the news of last week’s vaccine mandates for nearly all federal employees and contractors under the Biden administration as well as by a number of larger companies across the country. Disney’s inclusion in the meeting followed the company’s news last month of its own requirement for unionized employees at the Walt Disney World Resort to be fully vaccinated by October 22, 2021 at the latest. (Additional salaried and non-union hourly Cast Members have until the end of this month to get vaccinated under the current requirements.)

Other participants in the meeting included executives from Microsoft, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Kaiser Permanente Healthcare System, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream.

The federal government has been pushing for state and local governments to move toward vaccination requirements to help stop the spread of COVID-19 as the country finds itself in another surge, however without the entire country on the same page, the Biden administration is now looking to larger corporations.

While opinion polls support evidence that the majority of Americans would be in favor of a vaccine mandate in some capacity, the return of mask mandates in many areas and the harsh treatment toward service and hospitality workers by the general public throughout the COVID-19 pandemic may understandably leave some businesses and local governments shaken.

It is the White House’s goal that meetings like the one on Wednesday will inspire other businesses to follow in the footsteps of trusted entities who have successfully worked with vaccine mandates for employees. Some companies are stepping up and requiring workers to either get vaccinated or commit to weekly COVID tests, and following the news earlier this year that the FDA had granted full approval to Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccines, the Biden administration is hopeful that these meetings will have some productive results.