The State Department ordered an evacuation of non-essential personnel from its Shanghai consulate due to China’s harsh COVID-19 lockdown.
After initially allowing for non-emergency staff and family members to leave the consulate last week, officials upgraded that order late Monday to make it mandatory, not voluntary. Consular officers will remain at the facility to carry out their duties for the time being.
The US State Department ordered the departure of non-emergency US government employees and family members from its Shanghai consulate due to China’s strict Covid-19 mitigation measures.https://t.co/ZZOYLsYuY5
— CNN (@CNN) April 12, 2022
The Chinese Communist Party locked down Shanghai on March 28 after an outbreak of COVID-19, specifically the BA.2 subvariant of Omicron. The 26 million residents of the city have largely not been allowed to leave their homes since, and new reports have emerged every day of people in the city starving, being forced into quarantine without being sick and having their pets killed and families separated by CCP workers.
Concern first arose last week about the possibility that foreigners would be separated from their kids, when health officials enforced a policy of quarantining COVID-positive children away from their parents. (RELATED: China Separating Families, Locking Down Millions During Mild COVID Surge)
The Consulate officially said the evacuation was ordered due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the “impact of restrictions related to the response of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).”
However, the COVID-19 outbreak itself has not been severe in the slightest. 23,342 people tested positive Tuesday for the virus in Shanghai, but fewer than 1,000 of them had symptoms, according to the Associated Press. The CCP has yet to report any deaths as part of the current outbreak.
