Shanghai’s Pudong, one of the China’s busiest airports, saw hundreds of flights canceled on Tuesday after the discovery of a coronavirus cluster linked to the its cargo workers. All airport staff have undergone Covid-19 tests.
More than 500 flights – nearly a half a day’s traffic – scheduled to depart from Pudong Airport were canceled on Tuesday, according to data from VariFlight. Around a half of inbound flights were canceled as well.
The major disruption at the airport occurred after several cargo workers and their close contacts tested positive for coronavirus. Since Friday, Shanghai reported five coronavirus cases, triggering snap mass-testing at the airport. The surprise testing caused tensions between health workers and airport employees, with chaotic scenes from the transport hub emerging online.
More than 17,700 people had been screened for the virus by Monday, with one person, an employee of FedEx China working in a cargo zone at the airport, testing positive.
China has repeatedly imposed strict lockdowns and rolled out mass-testing programs over a handful of detected Covid-19 cases, trying to quash potential outbreaks before they grow any bigger.
On Saturday, for instance, Chinese authorities ordered testing all the residents of the city of Manzhouli – some 300,000 people – located at the country’s border with Russia, after two locals tested positive for the virus.
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