Governor Newsom should deliver theme park guidelines ASAP – Orange County Register
Please visit the parks official websites for their latest guidelines and openings
Theme parks across the country and around the globe have safely reopened.
Why not in California?
Theme parks such as Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, Six Flags Magic Mountain and Universal Studios Hollywood generate billions of dollars in direct and indirect economic activity.
They employ tens of thousands of Californians directly and support the economic livelihoods of many more.
Naturally, no one expects or would want packed theme parks at this time. But no one’s proposing that.
Clearly, so long as the coronavirus pandemic continues, extraordinary measures must be taken to ensure that reopening can be done as safely as possible.
Theme parks that have opened across the country have shown how to make this happen, with no evidence to date that reopening theme parks has driven local outbreaks.
Through the use of capacity limits and social distancing, increased access to sanitation, face mask requirements and other methods to reduce health risks, theme parks in other states have demonstrated that it can be done safely.
“No COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported at Disney, Universal, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Six Flags, Legoland and Cedar Fair parks in Florida, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Virginia and Michigan,” the Southern California News Group’s Brady MacDonald reported.
Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom said guidelines for theme park reopening were coming “very, very shortly,” but 10 days later, there are still no guidelines.
On Tuesday, during a virtual news conference, Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro called on the governor to allow them to reopen. “We’re ready,” D’Amaro said. “It’s time.”
Indeed.
Theme park operators have been working for months on plans to reopen safely, no doubt incorporating best practices from parks that have already reopened.
We call on the governor’s office to make good on his promise to provide guidelines for California’s parks to reopen safely in a timely manner.
