The United States Department of State ordered on Monday that all its non-emergency personnel stationed in Shanghai, China evacuate in the face of a new COVID-19 surge.
In a travel advisory posted on its website, the Department of State highlighted that alert level three is imposed on China as of April 11. The department stressed the need to reconsider traveling to China due to the arbitrary enforcement of local laws coupled with COVID-19-related restrictions.
The department pinpointed China's Shanghai municipality and Jilin province as areas to be avoided due to COVID-19-related restrictions and the risk of parents being separated from their children. The same warning was given to Hong Kong where there is arbitrary enforcement of laws. Moreover, the Department of State highlighted that its own employees and their families are being asked to evacuate the country.
"On April 11, 2022, the Department ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government employees and all family members from the Consulate General Shanghai consular district due to a surge in COVID-19 cases and the impact of restrictions related to the PRC's response," the State Department said.
The Voice of America explained that the order came three days after the department announced a voluntary leave of their non-emergency personnel from the city. The media outlet said the US Embassy and Consulates in China's change of decision was due to the security of their employees.
"Our change in posture reflects our assessment that it is best for our employees and their families to be reduced in number and our operations to be scaled down as we deal with the changing circumstances on the ground," the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in China said in a statement.
The COVID-19 Omicron variant continues to cause a surge in Shanghai's infections, which was reported at 27,000 on Monday. The city has been on a lockdown since the beginning of April because the majority of the cases in the country originated from it.
City officials, however, have announced lightening restrictions on the lockdown following a series of complaints posted by residents on social media. Residents have found difficulty accessing fresh food with groceries closed and online apps unable to deliver. The eased restrictions will allow residents in neighborhoods with no recorded cases for more than 14 days to leave their homes for the purchase food and other necessities.
China reported 13,000 daily new cases early this month in the face of a new subtype of the Omicron variant. The new subtype was found in a patient located 70 km near Shanghai. The report came a month after the Chinese government announced a nationwide lockdown last March when it registered 51 million cases from various locations in the country.
These cases come in the face of the People's Republic of China having a zero-tolerance approach to COVID-19 in the country and in Hong Kong. The said approach, the US Department of State stressed, impacts access to public services and travel. A quarantine period of 14 days is imposed on travelers upon arrival, which subjects daily testing to COVID-19 from health authorities.
Accordingly, travelers found positive for COVID-19 will be moved to government-designated quarantine or medical facilities, which may not have the same standard of care and treatments as those implemented in the United States.
"Even after completing quarantine on-arrival, travelers to the PRC and Hong Kong may face additional quarantines and mandatory testing as well as movement and access restrictions, including access to medical services and public transportation. In some cases, children in Hong Kong and the PRC who test positive have been separated from their parents and kept in isolation until they meet local hospital discharge requirements," the Department of State elaborated.
