The US State Department on Monday ordered non-emergency US government workers to leave the consulate in Shanghai due to a surge in COVID-19 cases and China's measures to control the virus.
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On Friday, the State Department announced that non-emergency personnel could voluntarily leave the consulate. It is not clear why the departure of those workers has become mandatory.
China's zero-tolerance approach to COVID-19, prescribing central quarantine for anyone testing positive even in the absence of symptoms, is increasingly strained by the highly infectious, though less deadly, Omicron variant.
The most controversial of Shanghai's practices had been separating COVID-positive children from their parents. Authorities have since made some concessions.
