Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood got a clearer view of when they may be able to reopen. In a presentation today, it was explained how and when these theme parks can reopen. Now, parkgoers want to know how these new health and safety procedures will be monitored and how they can avoid any possible outbreaks.
California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly held a presentation this afternoon about the updates on moving forward in reopening Southern California, particularly when it comes to theme parks. He began his presentation by explaining that Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood can reopen in the Yellow Tier which is also known as the “minimal tier.” Theme parks will be required to operate at a limited capacity, with mandatory face covering, and mandatory park reservations.
With this new information, it raised a few questions, such as who will be monitoring that these new guidelines are being put into place and how will they implement these guidelines to avoid another closure? Dr. Ghaly responded with the following statement:
“All of the same regulations and procedures — both workplace, food, and other things — are all in place and will continue to be the responsibility of the theme park to abide with, and regular inspections will occur. We will also ensure that our public health teams and the local public health teams have access to the parks to ensure that there are no material violations of the modifications that we have put forward as part of our guidance. And if, through the normal process and conversation and working together, we’re not able to meet the needs or ensure that things are done in a safe and satisfactory way following the public health guidance, there will be standard or typical enforcement conversations and potentially things that lead to partial or complete closures.
And I’ll remind you that the county transmission also will be an important part to follow, and that a theme park that might open, if there is widespread transmission in that county again, along with other business sectors, there may be the request for that county, that was once in Yellow, to move back in a tier, and it would have an impact on theme park operations.”
