US State Department orderedso that all employees of the country’s consulate general in Shanghai who are not related to the implementation of urgent tasks, as well as their family members, leave China. In addition, the US authorities urged citizens to refuse to travel to China.
The statement said that the withdrawal of consular staff is associated with an increase in the number of cases of COVID-19 and the imposed strict quarantine restrictions, as well as the “arbitrariness” of the Chinese authorities.
“Refuse to travel to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) due to the arbitrary application of local laws and restrictions related to COVID-19,” the Department of State’s updated travel advisory states. “Do not travel to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China , Jilin Province, and… Shanghai City due to COVID-19 related restrictions, including the risk of parent-child separation. Refuse to travel to Hong Kong SAR of the PRC due to the arbitrary application of local laws.”
Mid March in China fixed death from COVID-19 for the first time since January 2021. A sharp spike in infections started due to the spread of the omicron strain. At the end of the month of Chinese power decided impose a lockdown in various cities and provinces amid a sharp increase in cases of coronavirus infection. Over the past 24 hours, more than 26 thousand cases of the disease have been detected in the country, about 95% of them are in Shanghai and Jilin province.