U.S. orders consular to leave Shanghai amid COVID outbreak
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a patient who has recovered from COVID-19, is disinfected as he leaves a makeshift hospital converted from Shanghai Convention & Exhibition Center of International Sourcing in Shanghai on Saturday. Shanghai on Sunday discharged over 11,000 recovered COVID-19 patients and health authorities emphasized that they must be allowed to return home despite the lockdown that has severely restricted movement in China’s largest city.
BEIJING >> The U.S. has ordered its consular staff to leave Shanghai, which is under a lockdown to contain a COVID-19 surge.
The State Department said the order is an upgrade from the “authorized” departure issued last week that made the decision voluntary.
The order covers “non-emergency U.S. government employees and their family members from U.S. Consulate General Shanghai.”
In its late Monday announcement, the department said, “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.”
China responded angrily to the earlier voluntary departure order.
