Starting Friday, Disney World in Florida will require guests over two years old to wear masks indoors, reversing its policy that allowed fully vaccinated guests to go without them.
The change was announced after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday recommended that Americans, regardless of vaccination status, wear face masks in indoor public spaces in areas with high transmission rates.
It also came as Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings on Wednesday signed an executive order declaring a local emergency as cases surge in the county, which includes Disney World.
“I urge residents and visitors – vaccinated and non-vaccinated – to wear a mask while indoors and follow updated CDC guidelines,” Mr Demings wrote. Twitter.
Over the past two weeks, coronavirus infections in Orange County have increased by 184 percent, and hospitalizations have increased by 116 percent, according to the New York Times data.
Disney’s new policy may attract some backlash from Governor Ron DeSantis, who said after the CDC’s announcement that it was up to parents to decide whether their children should wear masks.
On Wednesday, Governor DeSantis doubled down on his comments, saying that making children wear masks is “bad policy.”
“Parents are best prepared to decide whether they want their children to wear a mask at school,” the governor said wrote on Twitter. “Neither Washington bureaucrats nor local authorities should be able to override a parent’s decision.”
Disney World wasn’t the only company to reverse course in response to the CDC’s advice. Apple also said it will begin requiring employees and customers to wear masks regardless of their vaccination status at certain stores across the country, according to new CDC guidelines.
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