US asks consular staff to leave Shanghai

AP reported, the US State Department also advised Americans to reconsider traveling to China “due to restrictions related to COVID-19, including the risk of parents and children being separated”.

The request, announced late on Wednesday, applies to non-essential US government employees at the consulate in Shanghai and their family members, the State Department said. Last week, the US State Department only advised these people to leave Shanghai on a voluntary basis in the context of the Chinese city of 26 million people with the largest outbreak since COVID-19 began to appear in Wuhan. Han at the end of 2019.

“This change reflects our assessment that it is best for our employees and their families to reduce numbers and scale back operations,” the statement said.

The US State Department also offers a series of tips for Americans in Shanghai need to prepare “adequate money, medicine, food and other necessities… in case of sudden restrictions or isolation”. A State Department spokesman said staff at the Consulate and their families will be leaving Shanghai on commercial flights.

Many residents in Shanghai had to stay at home for 3 weeks as China maintained its strategy zero-COVID to control the epidemic by strict isolation and mass testing. People who test positive for COVID-19 must enter mass isolation centers.

The Shanghai government says it will gradually lift some restrictions on areas where no new infections have been reported in the past two weeks.

Residents will be able to travel within their county but not in groups. Others will be restricted to their neighborhoods.

The Shanghai government also said it had secured daily supplies for residents, following complaints about deliveries of food and other necessities.