Coronavirus: State Department orders non-essential staff to leave Shanghai amid COVID-19 surge

WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department on Monday ordered all non-emergency government staff and their family members in Shanghai to leave amid a COVID-19 surge.

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“Reconsider travel to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws and COVID-19-related restrictions,” the State Department stated in the Level 3 travel advisory.

Specifically, the advisory warned against travel to the following areas, to not only minimize exposure to the virus but also limit the “risk of parents and children being separated.”

• The PRC’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR)
• Jilin province
• Shanghai municipality

“Reconsider travel to the PRC’s Hong Kong SAR due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws,” the advisory stated.

Monday’s advisory comes three days after the State Department announced that nonessential personnel could voluntarily leave the consulate, but the latest advisory did not indicate what prompted the shift from voluntary to mandatory, Reuters reported.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Saturday that China is “strongly dissatisfied” with and “firmly opposes” the United States’ “groundless accusation” of China’s COVID-19 policy, according to a CNBC translation of the Chinese statement.

Mainland China is currently experiencing its strongest COVID-19 surge since the coronavirus pandemic began in early 2020, with the northern province of Jilin and the southeastern city of Shanghai among the hardest-hit locales, the network reported.

Read the full CNBC report for a clearer picture of the surge.

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