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Disney and Universal close parks in Japan
Walt Disney Co and Universal have both closed their theme parks in Japan to help curb the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
Both parks announced two-week closures a day after Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered schools across the country to close.
"The coming week or two is an extremely important time. This is to prioritize the health and safety of the children and take precautions to avoid the risk of possible large-scale infections," Abe said.
Tokyo Disneyland’s two parks and Universal Studios Japan in Osaka have closed until at least March 16.
Legoland Japan has also closed.
Tokyo Disneyland is its third Disney park to close after the Hong Kong and Shanghai parks shuttered a month ago.
Including mass infections from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, Japan has seen nearly 1,000 cases of coronavirus so far, resulting in numerous travel advisories and flight cancellations.
Before the latest park closure was announced, new Disney CEO responded to the threat of the COVID-19 outbreak in an interview with CNBC: "While this is certainly a bump in the road in terms of the coronavirus, we’ll come through like we’ve come through every other challenge that we’ve had."
Disney previously said the park closures in Shanghai and Hong Kong will cost the company about $175 million in lost revenue based on a two-month closure.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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