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HONG KONG (Kyodo) – Hong Kong Disneyland reopened on Friday with the territory’s government lifting some social distancing measures to fight the spread of the coronavirus as the pandemic abates.
This is the third reopening of the popular theme park after previous closures in January, July and December last year, lasting around nine months in total due to the pandemic. It closed for the last time on December 2.
Local Cable TV media reported that about 100 people lined up at the doors before it opened, including a teenager who said he was so excited he couldn’t sleep the night before.
“Every time Disneyland reopens, you have to be darling,” said Yim, donning an Olaf mask, a snowman character in the animated film “Frozen”. “Or you would lose the chance to play when it closes.”
Only customers who have booked are admitted, the park said. It closes Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The closures came after the park saw declining visitor numbers as Hong Kong was embroiled in month-long anti-government protests. Full attendance through September 2019 fell 4% from the previous year to 6.5 million visitors, according to company figures.
Social distancing measures have been relaxed in Hong Kong from Thursday as new infections have declined in recent weeks to double-digit numbers.
Most public places are allowed to open while being limited to half their capacity and having to observe preventive measures, including temperature checks and face masks.
Under the new rules, visitors to the theme park, restaurants and most public places are required to leave visitation records for contact tracing in the event of an outbreak. Employees must get tested for COVID-19 every fortnight.
The government has cleared the emergency use of the CoronaVac vaccine manufactured by Chinese company Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, with the first batch of 1 million doses of CoronaVac arriving late Friday and the last due to arrive by the end of the month. . Mass inoculation is expected to begin next week.
Thirteen cases of infection were reported on Friday, bringing the total to 10,833, with 197 deaths, according to government figures.
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