US withdraws non-essential consulate staff from Shanghai due to coronavirus | abroad

The US State Department announced, Friday, that non-essential individuals can decide for themselves whether they want to leave, but now it is mandatory. Staff family members also have to leave Shanghai. Americans were also advised from Friday not to travel to Shanghai or Hong Kong, due to restrictions surrounding Covid-19, including the risk of “parents and children being separated from one another”.

“The United States has no greater priority than the safety of its employees abroad,” said an embassy spokesman, who said US authorities had raised concerns with the Chinese. According to the United States, the actions in the city are arbitrary in nature. “Standards of care, accommodation, testing and treatment may differ significantly from those in force in the United States,” the US State Department said on its website.

In Shanghai, strict quarantine measures to contain the number of coronavirus infections have already received a lot of criticism. Affected children are separated from their parents, and there are reports of food shortages. On Monday, the Chinese government promised to ease the latest lockdown, but it is not clear how many of the 26 million residents will be able to enjoy it.