Shanghai Disney resort shuts down as China sees surge in Omicron cases

China has had to shut down the Disney resort located in its financial hub in Shanghai as the country faces its worst Covid-19 outbreak in the last two years.

Tens of millions of people have been put under lockdown as China looks for ways to contain the Omicron variant-induced outbreak.

The Disney resort closure was ordered after the city recorded 31 new domestically transmitted cases and 865 local asymptomatic infections, according to The Independent.

"Due to the current pandemic situation, Shanghai Disney Resort, including Shanghai Disneyland, Disneytown, and Wishing Star Park will be temporarily closed from Monday, March 21, 2022," read the official statement.

The surge in infections across China has also prompted authorities to close schools in Shanghai and lockdown multiple north-eastern cities.

"Shanghai is standing the test of a severe epidemic," said Wu Jinglei, director of Shanghai Health Commission. The resort was shut down on Monday till further notice.

"When it comes to the entire situation of epidemic control and prevention that we are facing, it is very complex and serious, and it is also a very big test for us," added Jinglei.

Residents of several cities there including the provincial capital Changchun -- home to nine million people -- are under stay-at-home orders.

The north-eastern province of Jilin has been worst hit by Omicron and has put about 4.5 million under lockdown. Most of the new infections reported in China have been detected in Jilin.

The country had reported 4,000 new infections on Sunday. However, there were no new deaths on Monday.

China, where the virus was first detected in late 2019, has maintained a strict 'zero-Covid' policy enforced with swift lockdowns, travel restrictions, and mass testing when clusters have emerged.

But the latest flare-up, driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant and a spike in asymptomatic cases, is testing that approach. Shanghai has expanded its mass testing program but has ruled out imposing a wider lockdown.