Florida's theme parks, including Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando, "have done very well" in preventing the spread of COVID-19 since reopening this past summer, according to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
"Everyone now acknowledges that theme parks have not led to any type of major outbreaks," he said during a coronavirus update on Monday.
"We knew because of the way it's done, they had precautions and all that. It's outdoors, all these other things," DeSantis added. "I think Disney, SeaWorld and Universal have done very well. And yet California, they're totally shut down. They have no path to reopen. Who knows when it will."
In October, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said his office was in "no hurry" to reopen the state's larger theme parks like Disneyland in a statement that was met with pushback from Disney officials, who called the restrictions arbitrary and cited the company's successful reopenings in Florida and other parts of the world in its push to reopen with enhanced health and safety precautions in place.
Meanwhile, Disney World, which continues to require that guests wear face masks and practice social distancing, has recently increased its capacity limit to 35 percent, up from 25 percent.
Last week, Disney confirmed that approximately 32,000 workers would be laid off in the first half of the 2021 fiscal year, including 28,000 staffers from its parks division.
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