New resort, boasting country’s largest indoor water park, opens in Texas amid pandemic
Kalahari Resort, featuring a ginormous 223,00-square-foot indoor water park, is having a grand opening Thursday in Round Rock, Texas, a day after the Lone Star State became the first in the U.S. to surpass 1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The Round Rock resort, about 20 miles north of Austin on Interstate 35, is expected to attract between “1 million to 2 million guests in its first year,” founder Todd Nelson said, according to the Austin-American Statesman.
The opening comes as the coronavirus is surging across Texas, with the state reporting 6,779 COVID-19 patients in hospitals on Wednesday, an increase of 609 in one day, according to The Associated Press. More than 19,000 people have died from the virus in Texas.
Yet, Tim Arnold, the general manager of the resort believes that operations will run smoothly and that guests will maintain COVID-19 protocols.
“The resort is 1.5 million square feet, so we have plenty of room to social distance,” Arnold said to KXAN.
Arnold also said that in order to abide coronavirus capacity limits, they’re limiting the number of guests the resort can accommodate to 3,000. Normally the resort can handle from 7,000-8,000 visitors.
The huge water park, which is about the size of four football fields, will also limit capacity.
Under coronavirus guidelines, indoor water parks in Texas “may operate up to 75% of the total listed occupancy,” according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
“It is the number one priority that we keep families safe,” Arnold said to KXAN. “All guests are required to wear masks.”
But not while in the water.
“There is no evidence that COVID-19 can be spread to humans through the use of recreational waters,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its website. “Follow safe swimming practices along with social distancing and everyday preventative actions to protect yourself.”
Everywhere else, except when dining in the restaurants, masks are required, including staff.
“Everyone who works in the resort has to wear a mask,” Reyes Dominguez, a retail associate at Marrakesh Market in Kalahari told the Statesman. “We constantly sanitize our area and we are making sure everyone stays healthy and safe, but still gets the Kalahari experience during their stay.”