Oct 31 (Reuters) – The Shanghai Disney Resort abruptly halted operations on Monday in compliance with COVID-19 prevention measures, as it directed all visitors at the time of the announcement to stay in the park until they return with a negative test for the virus.
The resort said at 11:39 a.m. local time (03:39 GMT) that it would immediately close its main park and surrounding areas including its shopping street until further notice to comply with virus restrictions.
The Shanghai government said on its official WeChat account that the park is preventing people from entering or leaving, and that all visitors within the site will need to wait for their test results before they can leave.
She said anyone who has been to the park since October 27 would need to be tested for COVID-19 three times in three days.
Social media users reported that the park continued to play games for visitors stuck in the park during the closure on Monday.
A spokesperson for the Shanghai Disney Resort said the resort was still operating with “limited offerings” and that they were following procedures in line with guidelines from Chinese health authorities.
On Saturday, the resort had said it had begun operating a reduced workforce to comply with COVID measures.
[1/2] Staff wearing face masks welcome visitors at the Shanghai Disney Resort, as the Shanghai Disneyland theme park reopens after being closed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Shanghai, China, on June 30, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
Shanghai reported 10 locally transferred cases on October 30, all of which said they were asymptomatic people.
The shutdown marks the latest disruption to the Shanghai Disney Resort, which was closed for more than three months during the Shanghai 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 them all to be screened 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 closed.
Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the videos, and the Shanghai Disney Resort did not respond when asked how many visitors were inside.
Local authorities across China have continued to impose sudden and extreme measures to limit any possibility of virus transmission once cases emerge, in line with the country’s strict zero-tolerance approach to COVID-19.
The Universal Resort in the country’s capital reopened on Monday, after a five-day closure, also spurred by virus measures.
(Reporting by Albee Zhang and Brenda Goh) Editing by Kim Coogle, Sam Holmes, Kirsten Donovan
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