Demings: ‘I will not hesitate’ to close theme parks, other businesses in Orange County if linked to COVID-19 outbreaks

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Hong Kong Disneyland will close its gates once again due to a second COVID-19 outbreak, but the company said that will not affect any other business operations, such as the Disney parks in and around Orange County.

However, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said if hospitals start to exceed capacity in the region and COVID-19 cases are being linked to Disney or any of the other theme parks, he will ask them to close.

Read: Hong Kong Disneyland to close again following rise in city’s coronavirus cases

“I’ve been a crisis manager for decades now and sometimes we have to make tough decisions,” Demings said. “For me if we see where we have to put more restrictive things in place and shut down businesses, I will not hesitate to do that.”

Disney has started to reopen its parks, with Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom reopening on Saturday. EPCOT and Hollywood Studios will reopen on Wednesday.

Read: ‘We’re ready for this new world’: Walt Disney World reopens two parks amid pandemic

Hong Kong Disneyland reopened on June 18 after cases dipped in the region dropped. The safety measures taken there were similar to the ones seen playing out at the parks here, such as requiring face masks, temperature checks and more.

Video: Walt Disney World reopens two parks Two Walt Disney World parks reopened Saturday.

© 2020 Cox Media Group