HONG KONG: In a step meant to prevent the transmission of the Omicron variant of Covid, the Hong Kong Disneyland theme park closed on January 5, for the fourth time during the Covid pandemic.

Hong Kong Disneyland offices said officials hoped the closing would last a short time, ending on the 20th of January.

"As required by the government and in line with preventive efforts taking place across Hong Kong, Hong Kong Disneyland Park will temporarily close. HKDL has been in close contact with the relevant government departments and will continue to implement health and safety measures with reference to their guidelines to promote health and safety of our guests and cast members," according to a statement issued by the park.

In keeping with the present operating guidelines, Hong Kong Disneyland has not been open to the public on Tuesdays and Thursdays to conduct clean up procedures.

Hong Kong's stringent zero-COVID policy entails tighter border restrictions, coupled with lengthy quarantining time for nearly all incoming visitors. Moreover, until January the Chinese special administrative region had not recorded a single confirmed COVID-19 case for a two- month span. However, during the past several days, locally spread Omicron cases have come to light. On January 3, Hong Kong health officials said they had been notified of thirteen additional cases, as well as another 26 cases of infected people not exhibiting symptoms. These included twelve omicron cases.

Acting promptly, the government announced on January 5 that it was carrying out steps that would bring a significant part of day-to-day activities to a halt throughout Hong Kong, though not a complete lockdown.