New opening "phase" guidelines announced by Federal Government

Earlier this week President Trump unveiled a phased system by which states can "reopen" which includes the following guidelines:

• Phase one reopening stipulates that states which are seeing a downward trajectory of positive tests as a percent of total tests within a 14-day period (flat or increasing volume of tests) can initiate phase one of a reopening, which still involved avoiding non-essential travel and not gathering in groups, but allows for large venues such as restaurants, places of worship and sports venues to operate under strict physical distancing protocols.
• Phase two can take effect If there is no evidence of a resurgence of COVID-19 and includes a key measure that allows non-essential travel to resume. States in this phase can reopen schools and bars can operate "with diminished standing-room occupancy".
• Phase three, which can take effect with a downward trend of symptoms and cases can allow "public interactions" with physical distancing and the unrestricted staffing of worksites. Visits to care homes and hospitals can resume and bars can increase their standing room capacity.

Though these phases don't specifically mention theme parks, it seems like Disney theme parks could not reopen until Florida and/or California can enter phase three, as theme parks need unrestricted staffing to operate, and "public interactions" are of course a must at theme parks. 

And while it would be great if COVID-19 cases decrease immediately and we could jump to phase three, it doesn't look like these phases will be implemented quickly, especially as the United States tries to keep cases as low as possible. 

As we've said previously, there is no way to know exactly how long theme parks will be dealing with the effects of Coronavirus, but while this situation is continuing, all travelers should check out the CDC's official site here, which has information on the virus and how to prevent its spread.