Disney World will begin offering on-site coronavirus testing to cast members and their families this week, ending a roughly two-month dispute with a union representing park-level players.
According to Kate Shindle, chairwoman of the Actors’ Equity Association, the union signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Disney to allow many actors to return to work.
The Actors Equity Association represents 51,000 performing artists nationwide, approximately 750 at Disney World.
The check center will be located at the Disney Maingate resort in Kissimmee, Florida, and will be open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Life. The controls will be self-administered through other people in their cars and the effects will last 3 to five days. Checks are through an appointment and must be handed over to Disney cast members, involving workers and their circle of relatives.
The union began lobbying Disney World to offer evidence to its members last June, before the park reopened in July. Actors may simply not do their job by wearing masks or maintaining social distances, the union said.
Shindle cited the death of Broadway actor Nick Cordero last month as an example of the devastating effect of the virus. Lamb, 41, had been hospitalized since March, had an amputated leg due to blood clots and had struggled with an infection in both lungs before his death.
Coronavirus can survive with lung damage.
“This is a disease that needs to be taken lightly,” Shindle told USA TODAY. “This can have a long-term effect on your livelihood, even if you’re lucky enough to survive.”