As of July 30, guests at Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California will be required to once again wear face masks, regardless of their vaccination status. Disney made the announcement late on Wednesday this week, effectively reversing its recent decision to drop its mask mandates. The move is in light of new public health guidance, as COVID-19 once again surges due to the highly transmissible Delta Variant.
Mask mandate back at Walt Disney World and Disneyland
One thing for sure, when talking of the COVID-19 pandemic, things are constantly changing. One minute, restrictions are imposed, the next they are lifted, only to be reimposed later. From Friday, July 30, employees and guests aged two and up will be required to wear face coverings in all indoor locations at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Masks are now required when on rides, as well as when using resort transportation like monorails and buses. However, masks will remain optional when guests are outdoors.
As noted by People, in mid-June, Walt Disney World and Disneyland dropped their indoor mask mandates for vaccinated guests. This move came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a new guidance that stated fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks indoors.
However, the CDC’s guidance changed this week after new evidence showed that fully vaccinated people are reportedly able to transmit the Delta Variant of the coronavirus. The CDC now recommends that even fully vaccinated people should wear masks indoors in areas with a high COVID-19 transmission.
Orange County, Florida, where Walt Disney World is located, has recently declared a state of emergency after COVID-19 has spread rapidly in the region. County Mayor Jerry Demings strongly recommends that people wear face coverings, although under state law, he is not able to impose an enforceable mandate. The state government in California is also strongly urging even fully vaccinated people to wear face coverings indoors, even in areas where transmission isn’t that high. However, again, no mandate has been issued.
Demings said on Wednesday that 1,371 COVID-19 cases were recorded in Orange County, Florida on Tuesday. This was reportedly the highest number of cases the county has recorded in a single day so far. Meanwhile, Orange County in California, where Disneyland is located, currently has a lower level of coronavirus transmission with 582 cases recorded on Wednesday. However, that number has also been rising as previously there was a seven-day average of 284 daily cases.
Social distancing
Wednesday’s announcement comes after theme parks have been dropping social distancing measures in recent months. Up until recently, all theme parks had maintained stringent protocols throughout the pandemic, including limited guest numbers, hand sanitizing stations and cancelled firework displays.
Walt Disney World reopened in July 2020 and quickly became a flashpoint for criticism when COVID-19 surged in Florida. Meanwhile, Disneyland reopened in April this year as previously, the California government had blocked theme parks from reopening.
While Disney on Wednesday only mentioned mask wearing, it is unclear whether other measures, such as social distancing, will be reimposed in the parks.
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