US pulls non-emergency staff from Shanghai amid COVID surge

BEIJING (AP) — The U.S. has ordered all non-emergency government staff to leave Shanghai, which is under a tight lockdown to contain a COVID-19 surge. Many residents in the city of 26 million have been confined to their homes for up to three weeks as China maintains its “zero-COVID” strategy of handling outbreaks with strict isolation and mass testing. But people living under the restrictions have described an increasingly desperate situation, with families unable to obtain food and daily necessities. The State Department order covers non-emergency employees at the consulate and their family members and follows an advisory last week that made the decision to leave voluntary. Shanghai had another 23,000 cases reported Tuesday.