Disneyland: Hong Kong reopens for second time as city again reports near-zero COVID cases

BEIJING:  Hong Kong Disneyland has reopened for the second time as the semi-autonomous Chinese city again appears to have brought new coronavirus cases down to near-zero. The resort shut down during the initial stage of China's outbreak when Hong Kong closed schools and offices.

Disneyland reopened after cases dropped off but then was shut again once infections began to climb again over the summer. The resort reopened on Friday with social distancing measures for lines, restaurant seating, rides and other facilities, along with more frequent cleaning and disinfecting in the areas with the most visitors.

Hong Kong's economy is heavily dependent on tourism and the government has been moving steadily to bring back business without sparking new outbreaks in the densely populated city of 7.5 million. Hong Kong reported seven new cases on Friday for a total of 5,056 and 104 deaths in the pandemic, according to China's National Health Commission.

Mainland China reported eight new cases, all brought from outside the country. No new cases of local transmission have been reported in 40 days, with the death toll remaining at 4,634 among 85,322 cases recorded since the virus was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.