WASHINGTON, April 12 – The U.S. Department of State on Monday ordered non-emergency U.S. government workers to leave the consulate in Shanghai over rising COVID-19 cases and Chinese measures to control the virus.
On Friday, the State Department announced that non-emergency workers could voluntarily leave the consulate. It is not clear why the departure of those workers is compulsory.
China’s zero tolerance approach to COVID-19, which describes moderate segregation in anyone who tests positive for HIV or no symptoms, is increasingly plagued by highly infectious, though not fatal, Omicron variants.
The most controversial practices in Shanghai have been separating children with COVID from their parents. The authorities have made some agreements.
The State Department, last week said it had expressed concern over China’s COVID-19 policies with Chinese officials, highlighting the dangers of the separation of parents and children in a statement on Monday.
The United States must “stop political fraud under the epidemic, and stop mocking China,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a daily conference in Beijing on Tuesday.
On Saturday, the Department expressed “deep dissatisfaction” with the United States after expressing concern about measures to control China’s coronavirus.
Shanghai, battling China’s worst COVID outbreak since the outbreak began in Wuhan in late 2019, shut down all 25 million of its population but on Monday began clearing roads for some residents.