Shanghai Disney shuts over COVID, visitors unable to leave

[October 31, 2022]  By Brenda Goh and Albee Zhang

(Reuters) -Shanghai's Disney Resort abruptly suspended operations on Monday to comply with COVID-19 prevention measures, with all visitors at the time of the announcement directed to stay in the park until they return a negative test for the virus.

The resort said at 11:39 a.m. local time (03:39 GMT) it would immediately shut the main theme park and surrounding areas including its shopping street until further notice to comply with virus curbs.

The Shanghai government said on its official WeChat account the park was barring people from entering or exiting and that all visitors inside the site would need to await the results of their tests before they could leave.

Anyone who had visited the park since Oct. 27 would need to test for COVID-19 three times in three days, it said.

The theme park continued to operate rides for visitors stuck in the park during the closure on Monday, social media users reported.

A Shanghai Disney Resort spokesperson said the resort was still operating "limited offerings" and that they were following measures in line with guidelines from Chinese health authorities.

The resort had on Saturday said that it had started operating with a reduced workforce to comply with COVID measures.

Shanghai reported 10 locally transmitted cases for Oct. 30, all of which it said were people without symptoms.

Staff members wearing face masks welcome visitors at the Shanghai Disney Resort, as the Shanghai Disneyland theme park reopens after being shut for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Shanghai, China June 30, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

The closure marks the latest disruption for the Shanghai Disney Resort, which was shut for over three months during Shanghai's lockdown earlier this year.

The park was also closed for two days in November last year with more than 30,000 visitors stuck inside, after authorities ordered all of them to be tested in a contact tracing exercise.

Videos circulating on China's Weibo platform on Monday showed people rushing to the park's gates, which were already locked.

Reuters was not able to verify the authenticity of the videos and the Shanghai Disney Resort did not respond when asked about on how many visitors were inside.

Local authorities across China have continued to impose abrupt and extreme measures to cut any possibility of virus transmission once cases arise, in line with the country's ultra-strict zero-tolerance approach towards COVID-19.

The Universal Resort in the country's capital of Beijing reopened on Monday after a five day closure, which was also prompted by virus measures.

(Reporting by Albee Zhang and Brenda Goh; Editing by Kim Coghill, Sam Holmes, Kirsten Donovan)

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