Shanghai Disneyland to Temporarily Shut Amid Virus Outbreak

By Dave Sebastian

Walt Disney Co. said it is temporarily closing its Disneyland and Disneytown parks in Shanghai, starting Saturday, as the death toll from China's spreading coronavirus rose.

"We will continue to carefully monitor the situation and be in close contact with the local government," Shanghai Disney Resort, which operates the parks, said in a statement Friday. The closure comes during the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday, which is typically a busy travel period.

Disney said it would work to refund tickets bought to Disneyland, resort hotel rooms reserved, and tickets for Beauty and the Beast Mandarin Production booked through Disney's official ticket-purchasing platform.

The official death count related to the pneumonialike virus is 26, with the number of infections rising to at least 881 confirmed cases. The outbreak originated from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, and Chinese authorities have halted public transportation out of several cities in Hubei province in response to the disease's rapid spread.

The coronavirus has spread to several other countries, including South Korea, Japan and the U.S.

Write to Dave Sebastian at dave.sebastian@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 24, 2020 10:36 ET (15:36 GMT)

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