Disneyland Shanghai shut down as thousands 'locked in' for mass coronavirus testing after one positive case
The park will stay shut for the next few days despite all the weekend's visitors testing negative for coronavirus.
Monday 1 November 2021 17:45, UK
Disneyland in Shanghai has closed after police and health workers in hazmat suits swarmed the park to test tens of thousands of visitors.
Chinese media said it may have been prompted by one person with COVID who visited the park from the nearby city of Hangzhou on Saturday.
Fireworks went off as health workers carried out the mass testing on Sunday night - and people had to wait for hours for a negative test before they could leave.
The park said all 33,863 people who visited over the weekend had tested negative.
However, they must get tested again and have their health monitored.
One visitor, who gave her name as Chen, said she was in the park when an announcement was made at about 5pm that everyone had to get tested.
"No-one complained, and everyone behaved really well," she said.
Disneyland said the park would stay closed on Monday and Tuesday to comply with health rules.
The shutdown shows the tough measures in place in China as it enforces a zero-tolerance approach in an attempt to stamp out any local outbreaks.
Last week, a Shanghai to Beijing train was stopped mid-journey because one passenger was a close contact of a COVID case.
Police, health workers and transport staff quarantined the travellers and the train was disinfected.
China is believed to be the place where COVID originated and it was the first country to enforce strict lockdowns.
Its reported death total is just 4,636 deaths and 97,243 cases since the pandemic began.
There are extremely tough entry and quarantine requirements for people travelling into the country and all direct flights from the UK remain suspended.