Disneyland Paris to close its gates to stop spread of coronavirus

12 March 2020, 23:41 | Updated: 13 March 2020, 00:45

Disney has shut its theme parks in California, Florida, and Paris as part of efforts to stem the spread of coronavirus across the globe.

Disneyland in France will be shut from Monday to the end of the month, joining other theme parks in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo in closing.

Walt Disney World, the brand's flagship theme park, will also be closed from Monday.

Since opening in 1955, California's Disneyland has opened its doors each and every day, come rain or shine, except for three other major events in American history.

Those were a day of mourning after the assassination of JFK, the 9/11 attacks, and the Northridge Earthquake.

In a statement, Disney said the action was taken in the "best interests" of staff and guests.

Staff members will still be paid whilst the park is closed, the statement added.

Read More: Prime Minister confirms he is not closing schools

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So far in the US, there have been 1,573 confirmed cases and 40 deaths.

Disney's three hotels -The Grand Californian, Paradise Pier and the Disneyland Hotel - will stay open for guests until 16 March to allow them to make travel plans.

During a press conference earlier this week, he said the ban did not apply to the Disney parks, or casinos and theatres due to the "complexity of their unique circumstances".

It comes after President Donald Trump issued a 30-day travel ban of passengers from Europe.

Earlier this afternoon, Boris Johnson announced the UK was moving into the "delay" phase in the UK.

The PM has introduced a series of measures to tackle coronavirus in a statement after chairing an emergency Cobra meeting onThursday.

The prime minister introduced a series of measures to "minimise suffering" from the escalation of the outbreak.

These include:

- Stay at home for seven days if you have any symptoms consistent with coronavirus

- Over 70s with serious medical conditions should not go on cruise trips

- Children should not go on international school trips

The prime minister also confirmed schools would remain open and large scale events would go ahead.

Referring specifically to school closures, he said: "The scientific advice is that this could do more harm than good at this time but of course we are keeping this under review."

Chief medical officer Chris Whitty later expanded on the this decision which he said was due to research indicating that children are less affected by the virus.

But, the prime minister added: "Many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time" as the UK battles with "the worst public health crisis of a generation."