Safe distance selfies: Hong Kong Disneyland reopens to masked guests

Hong Kongers wearing Mickey Mouse ears and facemasks flocked back to Disneyland on Thursday as the city's park reopened after nearly five months of closure during the coronavirus pandemic.

Visitors queued up in blazing summer heat for the park's reopening, submitting to temperature checks at the entrance.

Signs plastered across the park and large stickers on the ground reminded visitors to maintain social distancing as they queued for rides.

Disney's parks across the globe have been hammered by the coronavirus and Hong Kong's is only the second to re-open after Shanghai.

Tourism operators are desperate to restart business, trialing different forms of social distancing as lockdowns ease. 

On Thursday, hand-sanitizing stations had been put up at regular intervals throughout the park and all guests were required to wear facemasks throughout their visit unless eating.

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.

Health authorities this week increased the number of people allowed to gather from eight to groups of 50 starting Friday. -Agence France-Presse