Just when everything seemed to be returning to a relatively normal state, Omicron made an appearance. In January, COVID-19 cases in Florida had been on the rise and continued to rise as the weeks progressed. What does this mean for amusement parks and concerts? What does this mean for the people wanting to get involved? There’s a lot to discuss.
Although the number of cases in Florida have been declining since the start of February, the seven-day average continues to be above 20,000 cases according to the New York Times. Despite the surge in cases, the entertainment industry has made little to no changes in the way it goes about protecting its consumers.
Amusement parks remain open and enforce a standard COVID-19 policy and warning. Disney parks have yet to update their policy. However, they advise their visitors that their company “will be making adjustments to these measures, which may continue to change at any time without notice.” In order to attend parks, visitors must make reservations in advance for the parks they’d like to attend and masks are required at all times for visitors ages two and up. Even though cases are rising, Disney has decided to continue reopening its restaurants while planning on continuing to increase capacity. The company advertises its plans to expand on multiple social media platforms.
Concerts have been scheduled back to back as the months progress. Artists including Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny, Tyler The Creator and so many more have tours with dates in Florida. Most of these tours already have sold-out shows which raises concerns over how COVID-19 will be addressed when the tours begin. Concerts are a large part of an artist’s career, however, the safety of their fans plays an important role in their public image. If fans begin to get COVID-19 as a result of attending concerts, artists will have to face the repercussions. For larger artists, concerts aren’t a financial necessity; the same can’t be said for local or smaller artists. Artists continue to take the risk of endangering the health of their fans and themselves by scheduling tours. Will this trend continue throughout the months to come despite cases rising? Will artists start canceling tours? Time will only tell.
Making the decision of whether or not someone wants to continue to participate in events regardless of rising cases is a difficult one. However, if organizations and public figures continue to give the public an opportunity to do so, they will. The entertainment industry is faced with the choice between safety or salary and it seems they are leaning towards the latter.
For more information and updates with Disney visit https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/experience-updates/.
