Visits to China’s theme parks are now subject to a high risk of being involuntarily detained.
On Monday, Shanghai Disneyland was closed to an estimated 22,000 park visitors after authorities increased their anti-COVID efforts.
Two days ago, around 30,000 people were stuck in the park when the city started a contact-tracing exercise.
Shanghai authorities ordered that the park and nearby retail complex close their doors on Monday just before noon. Following the discovery of eight positive cases, all of them asymptomatic, the authorities ordered the park and its nearby retail complex to close their doors shortly before noon on Monday. The park announced that it would reduce its staffing to comply with COVID regulations on Saturday.
On Monday, all visitors to the park would have to take a negative screening before they could be allowed to leave. Anyone who has been to the parks since Oct. 27, 2022 would need to submit a negative test. For those who were trapped in the park, some attractions were still running.
China still has a strict system of disease control called Zero-COVID. This means strict quarantines and mass testing, lockdowns, and restrictions on movement that can be controlled via an app. All of these are meant to break the transmission chains. Many Chinese have complained about the random closings and frequent testing required by the app.
Shanghai, China’s biggest city and its commercial capital, was largely locked down for three months earlier this year by the discovery of a new wave of cases.
Shanghai Disneyland, which opened in summer 2016, was a joint venture between a city-owned company and the Walt Disney Company.
The newer Universal Resort, near Beijing, was allowed to reopen Monday. After a nearby epidemic, it had been closed for five consecutive days.