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Hong Kong Disneyland Closes Again Because Of Coronavirus

A visitor wearing a protective mask walks past a statue of Mickey Mouse at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort on June 18, the day it initially reopened. The amusement park will close again on Wednesday.
Lam Yik
/
Bloomberg via Getty Images
A visitor wearing a protective mask walks past a statue of Mickey Mouse at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort on June 18, the day it initially reopened. The amusement park will close again on Wednesday.

Hong Kong Disneyland will temporarily close its doors on Wednesday because of a spike in coronavirus cases within the city.

The amusement park's announcement came on Monday, the same day that Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced several measures to stop the spread of the virus. According to a report from Bloomberg, the new measures include closure of gyms, amusement parks and other types of venues for a week.

The park had been open for less than a month, reopening in June after being initially closed in January.

"As required by the government and health authorities in line with prevention efforts taking place across Hong Kong, Hong Kong Disneyland park will temporarily close from July 15," a Disney spokeswoman said in a statement provided to Bloomberg.

A city health official called the virus's spread in Hong Kong "a bit out of control," according to a report from Asia Times. As of Monday, Hong Kong has seen 1,469 cases of the coronavirus and reported just seven deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Disney reopened two of its theme parks in Florida — the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom — on Saturday after a prolonged shutdown. The two others are slated to reopen Wednesday, even as coronavirus cases have spiked in Florida. The state has reported more than 282,000 cases and 4,277 deaths.

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Austin Horn is a 2019-2020 Kroc Fellow. He joined NPR after internships at the San Antonio Express-News and Frankfort State-Journal, as well as a couple stints in the service industry. He aims to keep his reporting grounded in the experience of real individuals of all stripes.