By Amanda Pampuro
With summer just around the corner, and with COVID-19 still a concern, how can one of summers favorite pastimes reopen? What can be done to help prevent the spread of an infectious disease that has affected so many lives and jobs. Theme parks around the country are looking at ways to safely re-open by implementing new safety measures such as mandatory masks, temperature checks, social distancing and reduced capacity. There will be many people who are afraid to venture in, but there are many who will not be.
“Don’t assume that all guests are afraid to go,” said Dr. Martin Lewison, roller coaster connoisseur and a professor of business management at Farmingdale State College in New York. With his wife Cheryl, Lewison has buckled into more than 2,000 roller coasters around the world. “There’s definitely demand for theme parks to open.”
He added: “My wife is an ER doctor here in Queens in New York and we got hit really bad here. It’s an awful virus and it does all kinds of terrible things to you. The rest of the United States hasn’t really seen this. They’re frustrated about not being able to go to work, not being able to go get your hair done, being stuck in your house, losing income. It’s a very stressful, anxious period for a lot of people.”
Now as much as ever, Lewison said, people want to have fun.
