- Shanghai Disney Resort said Sunday that “to cooperate with the pandemic investigation in other provinces and cities” it was suspending entry to Shanghai Disneyland and Disneytown, while outdoor entertainment would continue.
- Visitors would need to take a virus test upon exiting, and another test after 24 hours, the resort operator said.
- The resort is closed Monday and Tuesday, and visitors can request a refund for tickets.
BEIJING — Shanghai Disney Resort suspended entry late Sunday and asked visitors to get coronavirus tests, just hours before the night of Halloween.
The resort operator cited cooperation with “pandemic investigation in other provinces and cities” in its announcement on temporarily suspending entry and stopping operations for some attractions. “Outdoor entertainment will continue as scheduled,” the company said in a statement timestamped 6:05 p.m. Sunday on Chinese social media platform Weibo.
Mainland China has reported new pockets of coronavirus cases in the last few weeks, mostly in Inner Mongolia or other regions in the north.
Over the weekend, a few domestically transmitted coronavirus cases surfaced in more distant regions. Hangzhou city reported one new case from a traveler passing through from Shanghai. It was not immediately clear whether this case was directly connected with Disneyland.
Shanghai Disney Resort visitors need to take a nucleic acid test for the coronavirus upon exiting, and another test after 24 hours, the company said Sunday, adding later in the evening that Shanghai Disneyland and Disneytown would be closed Monday and Tuesday.
Shanghai city said those who visited the Disney venues since Saturday would also need to be tested. As of 8 a.m. on Monday, 33,863 people had tested negative, the municipal government said, with no new positive cases reported for Sunday in the city.
Disney owns 43% of Shanghai Disney Resort, which is offering refunds or exchanges for tickets dated Oct. 31, Nov. 1 and Nov. 2.
The American entertainment company is set to release fiscal fourth-quarter results at 4:30 p.m. ET on Nov. 10.
China’s strict “zero tolerance” policy for controlling the spread of the coronavirus means that venues from apartment compounds to theme parks can be locked down at a moment’s notice.
On Saturday, Universal Beijing Resort said disease control authorities notified them that close contacts of a coronavirus case had visited the park the preceding Wednesday, Oct. 24. The resort said it tested all staff, and that the close contacts were in isolation and have tested negative for the coronavirus.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of Universal Studios and CNBC.
Source: Business - cnbc.com
