New COVID-19 regulations for the state of California have left Disneyland highly critical, as the theme park calls the state’s guidelines “unfair” and “unworkable.” The famed Anaheim park has been closed since March of this year, due to America’s high pandemic rates.
It has certainly been a very difficult year for people and businesses around the world. The arrival of Covid has created problems that many had considered unthinkable last year at this time. Arguably one of the hardest-hit economic sectors has been that of entertainment, with film productions being halted and delayed, as well as cinemas having to battle to stay open in what is increasingly looking like a hopeless effort. For several months this summer, it began to look like things were beginning to return to normal in many countries in the world. However, with the arrival of Autumn, new cases have cropped up at an alarming rate, and the United States has once again seen a resurgence in its already record-breaking number of cases. As a result, new measures are being taken to minimize the spread of Covid, and one of the first targets are places that involve large public gatherings, such as amusement parks.
For Disneyland, the impact of Covid has kept the famed park closed since March, though recent hopes were that this was about to change. Unfortunately, thanks to new regulations revealed by the State of California, it does not look as though Disneyland will be able to open any time soon. In response to new measures that require parks like Disneyland to remain closed until the state of California reaches its minimum risk tier – otherwise known as the yellow tier, Ken Potrock, president of Disneyland resort, released an official statement:
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. Nevertheless, the State of California continues to ignore this fact, instead mandating arbitrary guidelines that it knows are unworkable and that hold us to a standard vastly different from other reopened businesses and state-operated facilities. Together with our labor unions we want to get people back to work, but these State guidelines will keep us shuttered for the foreseeable future, forcing thousands more people out of work, leading to the inevitable closure of small family-owned businesses, and irreparably devastating the Anaheim/Southern California community.
Disneyland argues that the continued closure of the park has already affected numerous local businesses that typically thrive off of being in close proximity to the theme park. The tiered system announced by the State of California means that in order for Disneyland to reach the requisite yellow tier, a county must have a seven day adjusted average of less than one case of Covid among 100,000 people. The rule also requires a seven-day average positivity rate of less than 2%, which cannot disproportionately impact disadvantaged populations. As things currently stand, the director of the Orange County Health Care Agency, Dr. Clayton Chau believes that a yellow tier might be achievable by summer 2021.
It’s understandable that this is extremely challenging news for Disneyland executives to hear, but it’s important to keep things in perspective. The United States is currently being ravaged by Covid like no other country on Earth, and as such, any measures designed to curb the spread of the disease are not being done to punish businesses. Everyone wants to see the end of this pandemic, and the sooner the spread of the disease is stopped, the sooner everyone and everything can return to normal.
Source: Disneyland
