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A Disney spokesperson told The Washington Post all guests have left the park after an “expedited” testing process, because all results were negative. The resort said it would notify guests once there was a confirmed date to reopen.
It is unclear what caused the park to go into lockdown; Disney said it is required to follow coronavirus prevention procedures set by Shanghai. According to the Associated Press, Shanghai reported 11 asymptomatic cases of covid-19 after ordering mass testing Friday.
China remains one of the few countries still strictly limiting activity to combat the coronavirus, through its “zero covid” policy, which mandates sudden local lockdowns and mass testing whenever cases are detected. Many Chinese citizens have grown weary of the lockdowns, and protests broke out in Shanghai this year.
Some China watchers expected Chinese President Xi Jinping to ease some restrictions after he was elected to his third term as general secretary during the Communist Party congress earlier this month, but the lockdowns have continued across the country. In recent days, workers fled from a factory in northern China that produces many of the world’s iPhones after it began to quarantine some employees amid an outbreak.
Shanghai Disney already has strict rules in place to enter: Capacity is controlled, visitors must show proof of a negative test taken within 72 hours and present a green health QR code. Guests who have traveled overseas or to high- or medium-risk areas may not be allowed into the resort. Temperature screening is conducted at the entrance, and masks are required inside and outdoors unless people are eating.
The reported lockdown was eerily similar to one that took place exactly a year ago at the destination, which includes a theme park, two hotels, nature park and shopping district. Parkgoers who showed up for a Halloween party instead saw the gates close and workers wearing protective suits swarm the resort. No one was allowed to leave until they got tested.
In the 2021 case, according to Chinese media, a woman who had visited the park tested positive. The Washington Post reported last year that more than 30,000 people who visited Shanghai Disneyland were tested, and all were negative.
Shanghai Disneyland was the first Disney theme park to shut down due to the coronavirus in January 2020. It reopened with strict capacity restrictions in May 2020.