HK DISNEYLAND REOPENS AFTER 5-MONTH SHUTDOWN

Hong Kong's Disneyland will reopen its doors on Thursday, June 18, following nearly five months of closure, the park said Monday, in a fresh boost for a city that has largely managed to defeat the coronavirus, the Agence France Presse (AFP) reported on Monday, June 15.

Visitors will need to sign health declarations, submit to regular temperature checks and wear masks at all times unless eating, the park said in a statement on Monday.

It is just the second Disneyland around the world to resume services during the pandemic after Shanghai turned its lights and rides back on last month. Tokyo and Paris remain closed while the company's flagship park in California is eyeing a July reopening.

Hong Kong was one of the first places to record coronavirus infections after the disease first emerged in central China, morphing into a global pandemic and enveloping much of the world in a recession. But the finance hub has since managed to largely halt local transmission with just over 1,100 infections and four deaths. All overseas passengers are screened at the airport and quarantined by authorities if found to be infected -- on top of a mandatory 14-day home quarantine for arrivals.