Shanghai Disneyland Shuts Down and Tests 33K People After One COVID Case

Shanghai Disneyland abruptly declared on Sunday evening that it was no longer accepting new visitors and that everyone inside would be barred from leaving: A woman who visited the park on Saturday was found to be infected with the coronavirus in adjacent Jiangxi province.

As a result, the park and the metro station that serves it were locked as Shanghai city healthcare workers in protective suits raced inside to conduct mass testing of the visitors who were already inside.

In a surreal scene complete with hazmat suits and Disney's famed fireworks, nearly 34,000 guests at the theme park queued up to get tested before they could leave.

“I never thought that the longest queue in Disneyland would be for a nucleic acid test,” one guest wrote on social media.

On Monday and Tuesday, Shanghai Disneyland and Disneytown remained closed, and Shanghai health authorities reported Monday morning that they had tested roughly 34,000 people for the coronavirus in a single night and found no cases of COVID-19, AP reported.

It doesn't end here, however, as they will be asked to get tested again, and their health will be monitored in the coming weeks. On the bright side, officials assured that any visitors who were impacted by the closure will be provided refunds or exchanges. Another 100,000 people who visited the park over the weekend will also be tested.

In another extreme example, Beijing Railway authorities urged health officials in Jinan to stop a train heading from Shanghai to Beijing last Thursday, because one of the passengers was in close contact with someone who had tested positive. 212 passengers were sent to quarantine while the train was thoroughly disinfected,

China's COVID policy

China, where the COVID-19 virus was first officially discovered, closed its borders early in the pandemic to limit the spread of the disease. In fact, to keep the country's infection rate low, it has kept its borders sealed since March 2020, implemented citywide lockdowns, and other strict public health measures — even when it occasionally disrupted its economy.

As a result, it reported 92 new cases on Monday, which is dwarfed by the numbers in other countries and hopes to reach zero infections before it hosts the Winter Olympics in February.