China: Shanghai Disney traps visitors; mandates negative COVID test result to leave park
China: Hundreds of visitors at Shanghai Disney were trapped inside and were not allowed to leave the theme park unless they presented a negative COVID test report. The development comes amid China's strict zero-COVID policy and after 10 locally transmitted coronavirus cases that were recently reported in Shanghai.
Areas around the theme park, including shopping streets, were also abruptly closed.
Several videos circulating on social media showed locals rushing towards the park's main gate as a lockdown announcement was made.
Commenting on the incident, the Shanghai government said the park was barring people from entering and those inside could only leave once they had returned a negative test result.
No date has been given for when the park will reopen.
Shanghai Disney said tickets will be valid for six months and refunds will be given.
The snap closure comes just two days after the park began operating at a reduced capacity to comply with COVID measures.
This is not the first incident of sudden lockdown in China. In the past few days, people have been captured fleeing shops - including a Shanghai branch of Swedish furniture giant Ikea - and workplaces as they try to avoid being trapped inside.
In Hong Kong, workers who assemble Apple Inc.’s new iPhone have walked out of their factory to avoid COVID-19 curbs after some coworkers were quarantined following a virus outbreak.
Videos circulating on Chinese social media platforms showed people said to be Foxconn workers climbing over fences and walking down a road laden with their belongings.
The scenes underscore growing public discontent with China’s “zero-COVID” strategy, where the government seeks to stamp out outbreaks by implementing strict testing, isolation and lockdown measures where infections are detected.
Volunteers from nearby villages put out food and drinks for the Foxconn workers.
One such volunteer, who asked to be identified only by his surname Zhang out of privacy concerns, was put in charge of distributing supplies that his village in Xingyang county had prepared.
He said that the people shown in a video he uploaded to the short-video platform Douyin were Foxconn workers because they would have to take that road if they were leaving the facility.
(With inputs from agencies)
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