LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – California health officials set new rules on Friday that would allow Disneyland and other theme parks, stadiums and outdoor entertainment venues to reopen on April 1, after a nearly one year closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But Mickey Mouse’s return to “The Happiest Place on Earth” and live viewers to California’s football parks, America’s favorite pastime, still have major caveats.
Theme parks and amusement parks would be allowed to restart on April 1 with severely limited capacity, but only if the counties where they operate were removed from the “purple” layer of California’s color-coded COVID-19 restrictions, the system’s most stringent classification.
Masks and other security measures would still be necessary, and the parks would initially be open only to residents of the state. Service would range from 15% to 35% of normal capacity.
Outdoor stadiums, ball parks and performance arenas could also welcome the public back as of April 1, albeit with a fraction of maximum seats and subject to the same layered restraint system.
Attending the opening day of Major League Baseball games would be quiet in Southern California, with no more than 100 spectators allowed in locations located in counties with a purple zone.
This would include the stadiums of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the San Diego Padres and the Anaheim Angels. San Francisco and Oakland, home to the Giants and Athletics, respectively, are currently designated as red, which would limit seats to 20% of capacity.
FACILITATING THE RULES
The changes in California, one of the main epicenters of the pandemic in the United States during the holiday season of cases that overwhelmed health systems to the breaking point, occurred at a time when the rate of infections across the country declined and vaccinations are increasing.
But state health officials have traced a cautious approach to reopening, even with Governor Gavin Newsom under increasing political pressure, including the threat of a revocation election, to ease restrictions on the state’s social and economic life.
Disneyland at Walt Disney Co, based in Anaheim, is in the heart of Orange County, which, like the neighboring counties of Los Angeles and San Diego, has remained purple for months, an indication that the prevalence of COVID-19 cases and infection rates are dangerously high.
On Thursday, Newsom announced a “modest loosening” of tier definitions, taking into account the increase in vaccination in vulnerable communities.
This would allow counties designated as purple, for example, to progress more quickly to the red level, where amusement and theme parks were previously closed.
Friday’s announcement means that theme parks in counties with red zones can reopen with a 15% capacity on April 1. The less restrictive orange and yellow layers would allow reopening with a capacity of 25% and 35%, respectively.
Ken Potrock, president of Disneyland Resort, said in a statement that the decision meant “bringing thousands of people back to work and helping a lot of neighboring companies and our entire community”.
But it was not clear whether the increase in vaccination and the drop in COVID infection rates would go far enough for Anaheim to hit the red on the first day of next month. And Potrock did not give a date for the reopening of Disneyland.
Baseball teams in California issued similar statements welcoming the Friday announcement and hoping that conditions will allow a limited number of fans to return to the stadiums next month.
In September, Disney said it was releasing about 28,000 employees, most at its theme parks in California and Florida. Walt Disney World in Florida reopened last July with limited capacity.
Dodger Stadium and a Disneyland parking lot are currently being used as mass vaccination sites.
Theme parks like Disneyland, Universal Studios, Legoland and Knott’s Berry Farm protested strongly last October, when California health officials ruled out any rapid reopening of their attractions.
Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Christian Schmollinger