Disney World is reportedly allowing COVID-positive employees to come to work in their parks. Disney first reopened their doors to visitors on July 11th, allowing a limited amount of people into only two parks: Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. Epcot and Hollywood Studios reopened their doors four days later on July 15th. Disney was criticized for opening their parks, especially since there was still a high level of coronavirus cases in Florida at that time.
There was confusion on how Disney planned to keep their guests and employees safe, but Disney quickly laid out rules that park attendees would have to follow. Guests are required to reserve their tickets in advance and are not allowed to visit more than one park in a given day. In addition, strict social distancing and sanitization protocols have been implemented, as well as park-wide mask wearing for visitors and employees, amongst other restrictions. All of this, though, has not prevented many employees from getting sick, and, according to these employees, Disney is not being transparent enough about what is happening in the parks.
As their parks continue to serve customers, many Disney team members, including cast members and maintenance crew, have been testing positive for COVID-19 according to The Daily Beast. While this typically leads to contact tracing and quarantining for anyone who has come in contact with someone who tests positive, according to several employees, many team members at parks have shown up to work regardless of their positive status. Additionally, Disney has kept a tight lid on who exactly is testing positive, not informing employees that they may have come into contact with someone who has COVID and allowing them to continue working. Most severely, Orange County is experiencing a surge of cases, and the Downtown Disney District, located in Anaheim, is doing little to prevent COVID-positive employees and visitors from entering their facilities.
Disney has no on-site testing for their employees, and most of the employees who have been exposed and tested positive have sought out tests on their own time. In some cases, multiple family members have ended up getting sick due to this exposure. While those who spoke with The Daily Beast remain anonymous due to stipulations in their contract that forbid them from speaking to the press, many of their family members have spoken out about this treatment and some have even gone as far as contacting their local governments to shed light on what is happening.
Disney, like almost every other studio, has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their parks were closed for several months, and production on their movies and televisions shows has been delayed indefinitely in some cases. Upon announcing their reopening, debate raged about whether or not it would be safe seeing as both California and Florida have been experiencing brutal second waves of the virus. Disney insisted that they were taking all of the precautions within their power to ensure the safety of their employees and their guests, but these reports show otherwise. A lack of available testing, loose contact tracing procedures, and inefficient communication have seemed to lead to a rise in employee's vulnerability. Now, Disney will have to answer to this one way or another because it seems as if the changes they've already made have not been enough.
Source: The Daily Beast
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