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Crowds not allowed to leave Shanghai Disneyland without a negative COVID test

Let us go, let us gooooooo

It's a small world (after all) but it got a lot smaller for the heaving masses who were trapped inside Shanghai Disneyland as a result of China's zero-COVID policy.

Though the animation titan's theme parks are commonly claimed to be The Happiest Place on Earth, Minnie of the visitors must have thought local government was taking the Mickey by insisting they would not be Aladd-out unless they provide a negative coronavirus test.

However, as the BBC reports, those stuck would still have access to all Ariels and rides continued to operate for the stricken.

The resort announced not long after 11:30am on Monday that the theme park and surrounding shopping district would be immediately closed following reports of 10 locally transmitted cases over the weekend.

Videos posted to Chinese social media show patrons rushing to the gates only to find them locked already, though Bloomberg suggests visitors were being allowed to leave in batches by about 10:30pm.

Now authorities are asking people who have visited the park since October 27 to get tested three times over three days and to maintain social distancing. The attraction had been operating at a reduced capacity for just two days before the snap lockdown was enforced and there is no indication of when it will reopen.

While it may seem Cruella and unusual, it's not even the first time this has happened at Disneyland. Last November the park was shut with 30,000 inside who all needed to be tested.

Winnie the Pooh, China's supreme leader, has characterized the increasingly unpopular zero-COVID policy as a "people's war to stop the spread of the virus."

The approach has seen shoppers try to flee a Shanghai IKEA store to escape another snap lockdown in August, and it is affecting tech supply chains too, with Foxconn's Zhengzhou iPhone factory, the largest in China, also falling under the draconian restrictions. Videos shared on Chinese social media alleged to show migrant Foxconn workers climbing fences to escape quarantine and walk hundreds of kilometers back to their hometowns.

"Some people were walking amid wheat fields with their luggage, blankets and quilts," wrote one WeChat user. "I couldn't help but feel sad."

Foxconn is now said to be providing bus transport for workers who wish to leave, but is offering bonuses for those who stay and work. ®

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