Disney has announced that it is closing down its theme parks in Tokyo, Japan as the coronavirus outbreak in the country continues to spread.
Disney theme parks operator Oriental Land announced that Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea will shut down starting Saturday, February 29 and will remain closed until March 15.
The decision to shut down the theme parks follows a request by the Japanese government to cancel or postpone large gatherings and events over the next few weeks to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Currently, the virus has infected over 900 in Japan and has led to the death of eight people, most of whom were connected to the cruise ship that became a floating quarantine zone off the shore of Yokohoma earlier this month.
Globally, there are have been over 83,000 cases and at least 2,800 deaths, majority of whom were in mainland China.
Guests of the Tokyo Disney parks will be refunded for admission fees and hotel bookings. The parks are scheduled to reopen by March 16.
The theme park closure in Japan is the latest challenge being faced by Disney in Asia as the company has already shut down its Shanghai and Hong Kong theme parks just before the Lunar New Year holiday over coronavirus fears.
The company warned earlier this month that the closures as well as the fallout from the Hong Kong protests could result to a $280 million decline in profit from the current quarter. It added that the coronavirus outbreak is expected to negatively impact its results for the whole fiscal year.
In an earnings call earlier this month, Disney's chief financial officer (CFO) Christine McCarthy pointed out that the theme parks in Hong Kong and Shanghai will be closed indefinitely for now and that "the precise magnitude of the financial impact is highly dependent on the duration of the closures"
