Tokyo Disneyland closes on virus concerns

Tokyo Disneyland closes on virus concerns

Visitors outside Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, east of Tokyo, on Friday. (Reuters photo)
Visitors outside Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, east of Tokyo, on Friday. (Reuters photo)

TOKYO: Tokyo Disneyland will be closed starting from Saturday through to March 15 amid an outbreak of coronavirus infections in Japan, operator Oriental Land Co Ltd said on Friday.

Both Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea will be closed starting Saturday, the company said.

"We plan to reopen on March 16, but we will make an announcement after keeping close contact with relevant institutions," Oriental Land said on its website, adding that it would inform ticket holders of refund policies.

Osaka-based theme park Universal Studios Japan also said it was closing down during the same period.

The announcements also come a day after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for all schools to be closed down until the new academic year starts in early April.

Oriental Land shares closed up 0.66% on Friday, with investors having priced in the closures already after a slide of over 17 percent since the start of the year.

Disney's Shanghai and Hong Kong theme parks remain closed for more than a month, and the company earlier this month warned of a negative impact on its second quarter results.

It said on an earnings call on Feb 5 that closure of the Shanghai park could impact operating profit by about $135 million if closed for 2 months.

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