The most unfortunate place on earth? Shanghai Disney visitors stuck in park after COVID-19 outbreak
Disneyland Shanghai on Monday abruptly suspended operations in accordance with COVID-19 prevention measures, with all visitors at the time of the announcement being ordered to stay in the park until they return a negative virus test result.
The resort said it will immediately close the main theme park and surrounding areas, including its shopping street, at 11:39 a.m. local time until further notice to comply with virus restrictions.
The Shanghai government said on its official WeChat account that the park prohibits people from entering and exiting and that all visitors inside the site are required to wait for their test results before they can leave.
Anyone who has visited the park since October 27 will need to be tested for COVID-19 three times in three days, he said.
Social media users reported that the theme park continues to operate rides for visitors stuck in the park during Monday’s closing.
A spokesperson for Shanghai Disneyland said the resort is still operating with “limited offers” and that they are following the measures as advised by Chinese health authorities.
On Saturday, the resort said it had begun operating with a reduced workforce in line with COVID-19 measures.
Shanghai reported 10 cases of local transmission on October 30, all of which it said were asymptomatic people.
The closure marks the latest disruption to Shanghai Disneyland, which was closed for more than three months during the Shanghai lockdown earlier this year.
The park was also closed for two days last November, with more than 30,000 visitors stuck inside after authorities ordered all of them to be tested as part of a contact tracing exercise.
Videos circulated Monday on China’s Weibo platform show people rushing to the park’s gates, which were already locked.
Reuters was unable to verify the video’s authenticity, and Shanghai Disneyland did not answer a question about how many visitors are inside.
Local authorities across China continue to take drastic and extreme measures to rule out any possibility of transmission of the virus when cases occur, in line with the country’s extremely strict zero-tolerance approach to COVID-19.
An all-in-one resort in the capital, Beijing, reopened on Monday after a five-day closure that was also prompted by measures to combat the virus.