Employees dressed in costomes of the artistic cat Gelatoni (left) and Duffy the Disney Bear at the Shanghai Disney Theme Park File Photo: CFP

After hitting headlines for its swift COVID-19 emergency response actions in the latest flare-up, the Shanghai Disney Resort has again grabbed public attention after it announced it would reopen its parks on Wednesday, just two days after it was temporarily shut down due to reported COVID-19 infection risks. 

According to the notice, all staff inside the venue have tested negative for coronavirus after undergoing two screening tests in the past 48 hours, and all environment samples have returned negative results. 

The staff will strictly follow epidemic prevention rules to carry out self-monitoring, and the resort will continue to implement enhanced anti-epidemic measures including thorough disinfection of all equipment, indoor ventilation, and social distance controls.

The park will conduct strict health monitoring for visitors and will limit the personnel flows inside the park by requiring bookings. 

For visitors whose schedules were impacted by the temporary shutdown, they can reschedule or apply for refunds, the notice said. 

Zhang Wenhong, Shanghai-based top Chinese epidemiologist, said on Tuesday evening that there is a high risk with the latest flareup and prevention and control tasks in Shanghai have just started, adding that victory is still far away.

"However, we believe that the outbreaks in various regions across China will be brought under control under the unified mobilization of the country and the battle against it cannot be won without the coordination of the people and epidemic prevention forces," Zhang noted, calling on all residents to remain cautious and abide by relevant regulations. 

Zhang also urged people to get booster shots which are being arranged nationwide. 

Shanghai Disneyland was temporarily sealed off on Sunday, after a report said one of the positive COVID-19 cases from neighboring Zhejiang Province in East China was found to have visited the park. All 33,863 tourists and staff inside the park were asked to take nucleic acid tests before they could leave.

In a few hours, all people inside the park had completed nucleic acid testing and all the results were negative. The latest data shows the results of nucleic acid tests on more than 66,000 people related to the venue in Shanghai, all of which came back negative.

The city's swift reaction is an example of "China speed" in response to COVID-19 risks when many parts of the world are still struggling with epidemic surges. Experts noted that this can be attributed to a mature, accurate anti-epidemic mechanism in China that enables the country to dynamically track and curb the disease and also ensure that people's normal lives and work are not disturbed.

Global Times