A sign announcing the park's first closure in January. Photo: Ayaka McGill/AFP/Getty Images
Hong Kong Disneyland on Monday announced that it would close again on July 15, after reopening last month from a coronavirus-driven shutdown that began in January.
The state of play: Hong Kong authorities ordered it to close after the city reported 38 new infections on Friday. Comparatively, Orlando's Walt Disney World reopened Saturday even as the state reported over 15,000 new cases in a single day over the weekend.
The big picture: Hong Kong authorities also announced that schools and movie theaters must shut down amid the surge of cases.
- Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the maximum size of public gatherings will decrease from 50 people to four — and dine-in services at restaurants will be banned after 6pm, per the Wall Street Journal.
Why it matters: Entertainment executives have been looking to Hong Kong, as well as mainland China, to forecast how and when to safely reopen venues around the world.
- It's an especially devastating signal to the U.S., which is experiencing a massive uptick in coronavirus cases nationwide, that the country's ambitions to open — and keep open — its entertainment venues as planned this summer may not be possible.