The Shanghai Disney Resort on Monday became the latest major venue to close its doors due to China’s strict zero-covid-19 policy, locking out all guests and allowing them to leave hours later after they tested negative for the virus. Several families said Tuesday they were told by officials to stay home if they had visited the attraction since Thursday — and get tested for COVID-19 for the next three days. A resident of the town told the Reuters news agency that she had been told her family might have to go into central quarantine. Authorities said the Disney resort was closed after a 31-year-old woman, who had visited the park among others in recent days, tested positive for the virus. Image: Crowds inside the Shanghai Disney Resort during Monday’s temporary lockdown The latest crackdown comes as China’s coronavirus cases hit 2,719 a day. The country’s COVID-19 caseload has remained small by global standards, and some believe the tight pandemic restrictions are holding the economy back and increasingly out of sync with the rest of the world. The strict zero-covid-19 policy has seen millions of residents confined to their homes, subject to mass testing programs and enduring sudden lockdowns – in areas where positive cases of coronavirus or their close contacts have been identified. In August, authorities tried to prevent shoppers from leaving an Ikea store in Shanghai’s Xuhui district after a customer was found to have been in close contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID. The city is no stranger to a tough stance on the coronavirus – it endured a two-month lockdown earlier this year. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 2:42 Zero COVID-19 policy is disappointing Meanwhile, in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, Apple’s iPhone maker Foxconn announced a big increase in bonuses to stem an exodus of workers frustrated by the coronavirus restrictions. Videos appearing to show workers leaving the factory with luggage have gone viral on Chinese social media. Foxconn’s move came as authorities unexpectedly lifted some restrictions on Zhengzhou’s nearly 13 million people, even as new locally transmitted cases more than doubled on Monday from the previous day. “For more than 10 days, we have persevered and struggled together, fighting the disease, advancing and retreating together, and working hard together, and finally ushering in a large-scale restoration of normal life and production in Zhengzhou,” the city counter wrote. – wrote the special team of the epidemic in an online letter to the residents.
