The Walt Disney Company has just announced they are closing its Disneyland theme park in wake of the Coronavirus outbreak.
The closure is set to go into effect this Saturday and will run through the end of March. It’s unclear if the park will re-open or if the company is just giving time to the government to respond to the outbreak.
The closure comes after Califonia health officials recommended that any gathering of more than 250 people, including sporting events, and business conferences be cancelled to ensure a further spread of the virus.
Recently, California’s governor Gavin Newsom described Disneyland as a “nation-state” environment where 1,000 people board rides every hour and attending shows and parades. That doesn’t even take into account the hotels and other Disney related restaurants.
The Anaheim, CA theme park joins a group of already closed Disney parks including Tokyo Disney Resort which closed its doors on Feb. 28. Plus, the Shanghai Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort which have been close since January due to the virus outbreak.
The closure will cost the company millions in revenue, not to mention the huge amount of citizens the park employs. It’s unclear how the company will compensate those who will be out of work for some time.