China locks more than 30K visitors inside Disneyland, forces COVID tests on everyone

The ChiComs are serious about their "zero tolerance" policy for COVID-19. So serious that they are willing trap more than 30,000 tourists inside an amusement park for hours, subject every one of them to COVID tests, force them to quarantine for two days, and get tested multiple times over two weeks.

What happened?

While tens of thousands of people at Shanghai Disneyland enjoyed rides, park food, fireworks, and character visits Sunday, the park's staff "quietly sealed" the exits as hazmat-suit-wearing authorities flowed into the venue and prepared to test each and every one one of the nearly 34,000 guests for COVID before they could leave, Bloomberg reported.

Why? According to the Wall Street Journal, a woman who had attended the park a day earlier was found to be infected with COVID. And much like Australia's "zero COVID" standard, the Chinese have decided to maintain a "zero tolerance" policy when it comes to the pandemic.

From the Journal:

The world's most populous nation has committed to maintaining “zero tolerance" for the virus despite criticism from business groups, a close to 80% vaccination rate, and a world which is gradually learning to live with Covid-19.

China is taking stringent measures to contain pockets of the coronavirus in the country. It recorded 48 domestic cases on Saturday across several provinces. Though extremely low compared with countries that are moving to live with the virus, the infections have prompted business closures and mass testing in certain areas.

China, Bloomberg noted, is one of the last real "COVID zero" nations as even Australia has begun to loosen restrictions. Instead of moving toward reopening, the communist government is doubling down. But efforts seem to be failing as the nation has seen multiple waves of the Delta variant, with a current resurgence under way in half of the nation's provinces.

As people waited to leave, they posted videos of themselves standing in lines to get tested before they could exit. One visitor noted, "I never thought that the longest queue in Disneyland would be for a nucleic acid test," the Journal said.

Bloomberg reported that though all 34,000 tested negative, each one of them was ferried home on more than 200 "special buses" and required to quarantine at home for two days, then be tested repeatedly over the next two weeks.

The park and the shopping and dining area known as Disneytown will be shut until at least Wednesday, Shanghai Disneyland said, according to the Journal.