00:00Walt Disney World Resort is set to partially reopen this weekend, despite the surge of COVID-19 cases in Florida.
00:08The Magic Kingdom Park and Disney's Animal Kingdom Park will reopen on Saturday,
00:13followed by Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios, which will reopen July 15th.
00:18A portion of the park, the Disney Springs Shopping and Dining District, had already reopened on May 20th,
00:23with strict new health and safety measures in place, such as requiring everyone to wear a mask.
00:28On Monday, the Florida Health Department recorded 6,336 new novel coronavirus cases,
00:34bringing the overall state total to 206,447 cases.
00:40On Monday, the mayor of Miami-Dade issued an emergency order closing a number of businesses,
00:45such as gyms, short-term vacation rentals and restaurant dining rooms, due to the virus surge.
00:50Still, Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday defended Disney World reopening,
00:54saying he had no doubt Disney is going to be a safe environment, as the company put a, quote,
00:59premium on safety, and pointed to Universal Orlando, which fully reopened last month with enhanced health and safety measures,
01:06and added,
01:06I think that where you start to see the spread is just in social situations, where people let their guard down,
01:12usually like a private party or something like that.
01:14In addition to the theme park portions reopening, Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex,
01:20a massive campus on the Disney property near Orlando,
01:23will host the NBA and the MLS to conclude their 2019 seasons, beginning later this month.
01:28For more on this story, head to THR.com.
01:31For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
01:36For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
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