A single COVID-19 positive case has resulted in the temporary lockdown of Shanghai Disneyland. A woman who visited the park over the weekend had tested positive for COVID-19 and is believed to have come into contact with another visitor or someone working at the facility.
As a result, Chinese government officials kept more than 33,000 people in the park on Sunday and compelled them to test negative before being permitted to go home. Officials said all 33,863 visitors who had been to the park had tested negative.
Park officials said the Shanghai site will remain closed at least until Tuesday. Affected customers will get a full refund. Officials said they will be notifying customers as soon as there is a definitive date for the resumption of activities.
In a gradual rebound for one of the entertainment industries most impacted by the worldwide epidemic, Disney's parks and resorts business rebounded last quarter. The company said its parks made a $365 million operational profit in the fiscal third quarter that ended in June, compared to a deficit of over $1.9 billion the year before.
Revenue increased from slightly over $1 billion to $4.3 billion. However, executives said the pandemic's worldwide effects, particularly in China, are far from over.
The Chinese government had allowed the park to reopen but under severe restrictions. The same restrictions are still in place in large parts of the country. Some cities still require visitors to quarantine for three weeks upon arrival. People admitted to hospitals for non-COVID reasons are still required to stay another two weeks after recuperation, while ships at port have been barred from leaving until all crew members have been tested.
The stringent pandemic restrictions still in force in large parts of the country are influencing other sectors of entertainment, such as exhibitions and movies. Due to cinema closures in Beijing, highly anticipated debuts have had significantly lower than expected box office numbers.
Last week, the government placed three cities with a combined population of six million people under lockdown.
The Shanghai Disney lockdown and other so-called "zero Covid" precautions came as China, a country of over a billion people, reported only 48 cases on Saturday, up from 43 the previous week.
Analysts said China is fighting to control the spread of the virus through drastic measures to ensure that planned events such as the 2022 Winter Olympics and Xi Jinping's confirmation for a third term as Communist Party leader will not be derailed.
