Hong Kong Tourism Board advises major attractions to remain temporarily closed due to COVID

As Hong Kong struggles with a devastating fifth wave of COVID, the Hong Kong Tourism Board has advised that major attractions are closed until further notice with Hong Kong Disneyland hoping for a reopening in late April 2022.

In response to the Government’s tightened restrictions to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant, attractions including Hong Kong Disneyland, Ocean Park Hong Kong, Hong Kong Wetland Park, Noah’s Ark Hong Kong, sky100 Hong Kong Observation Deck, MONOPOLY DREAMS™, and museums under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) have suspended operations with latest news from the city’s government casting doubts on when they will be given approval to reopen.

Ocean Park advises on their website that they have been temporarily closed from 6th January, 2022 until further notice with online reservation for admission also suspended. Guests who purchased Ocean Park admission tickets or enrolled in programmes valid for the affected dates are being offered ticket exchange and refund arrangements.

Hong Kong Disneyland was forced to suspend operations on 7th January 2022—the fourth compulsory shut-down since the onset of the pandemic. It initially shut down for five months in early 2020, then again briefly in November of that year before a third enforced closure at the end of 2020 that lasted 10 weeks. The January 2022 suspension was extended to 23rd February within just seven days.

According to Hong Kong Disneyland resort’s website, its hotels will continue to remain open with an adjusted level of service for social distancing, and any unused tickets or tickets that expire during the current closure will once again be extended.

The government in Hong Kong is struggling to contain the city’s worst COVID outbreak, with thousands of new Omicron cases being reported daily, and deaths having surged.

Under pressure from Beijing to eliminate infections, Hong Kong officials have vowed to test all 7.4 million residents. Such an operation would require restricting people’s movements, but the government has been ambiguous about whether it would impose a lockdown, and if so, when.

Image:Hong Kong Disneyland park’s reopening to the public on 25th September 2020 with COVID health and safety measures