Screaming one's heart out on a daring roller coaster excursion may (temporarily) be a thing of the past for amusement park enthusiasts in Japan.
With amusement parks and similar facilities slowly starting up the reopening process in the region following the announcement that Japan was lifting its COVID-19 state of emergency, several park operators have linked up to release joint guidelines on how best to keep health and safety at the forefront to ensure virus containment.
Per a Japan Timesreport on Thursday, guests are asked to "refrain from vocalizing loudly" while on roller coasters and similar rides. Additional suggestions include that actors portraying ghosts in haunted house attractions keep a healthy distance from guests, park staff avoid shaking hands or high-fiving patrons, and superhero-dressed employees decline to encourage audience support due to the added possibility of droplet-spreading cheers.
For now, however, the most popular parks in Japan—Universal Studios in Osaka and Tokyo Disneyland—have not set reopening dates.
"Today the government will lift the state of emergency across the nation," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday when announcing the lifting of states of emergency in the final five of the country's 47 prefectures. "We've set some of the most strict criteria in the world to lift the declaration, and we concluded that prefectures across the country have met that standard."
He added that, should the government continue with "strict curbs' on social and economic happenings, businesses and daily routines could be "completely disrupted." Citizens are encouraged to continue practicing social distancing guidelines, despite a move toward normalcy.
