Anaheim Officials Appeal To State For Theme Park Reopening Guidelines As OC Reports No New COVID-19 Deaths For Second Consecutive Day
SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — Officials in Orange County are calling on Sacramento for guidance on preparing to reopen Disneyland and other theme parks as the number of coronavirus hospitalizations and deaths continue to decline.
Anaheim officials and the Sacramento-based California Attractions and Parks Association appealed publicly to the state for guidance on the reopening of Disneyland so they can better prepare. The state's March 14 shutdown order also affected the Anaheim Convention Center, the Honda Center and Angel Stadium.
"What we need is guidance and an economic recovery roadmap so we know we won't go from coronavirus to a second Great Recession," city spokesman Mike Lyster said.
Orange County Monday reported 44 newly confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and no new deaths for the second consecutive day, bringing countywide totals to 50,974 cases and 1,093 deaths.
The Orange County Health Care Agency reported 42 deaths attributed to COVID-19 last week and 76 the week before. There have been 45,396 documented recoveries from the illness.
Along with the decrease in deaths, the county also reported that the number of patients hospitalized was also continuing its decline with 196 hospitalized Monday, including 56 in intensive care units.
The daily case count per 100,000 people was holding steady at 5.2 and the seven-day positivity rate was 4.2%. In order to move from the state's red to orange tier, the county must have a daily new case rate between 1 and 3.9 per 100,000 and a positivity rate between 2% and 4.9%.
As case and positivity rates continues to decrease in Orange County, Lyster said having a plan is place is becoming more crucial.
"We're seeing cases come down significantly in Anaheim, even in our most hardest-hit neighborhoods," he said. "We believe now is not the time to necessarily open the theme parks, but to talk about the economic recovery road map."
A planned reopening in mid-July was scrapped because of outbreaks stemming from the Fourth of July. Lyster said city officials believe that Disney's management of the reopening of its Downtown Disney businesses shows it can responsibly reopen with social distancing and enforcement of face
coverings.
"It really is a model to go forward containing coronavirus and also allowing people to get back to work," he said. "What's frustrating is beaches, zoos and parts of Sea World (in San Diego) are open. These are
attractions that can draw tens of thousands of people. We want to see the same opportunity for theme parks."
Orange County was upgraded from the purple to the red tier last week, allowing churches, theaters and other businesses to resume indoor operations with modifications.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
