Group tours and travel packages into Shanghai suspended

Interprovincial group tours and airline + accommodation packages have been halted in Shanghai after a medium-risk area was classified in Jing'an District on Thursday, authorities announced on Friday.

Relevant tour operations will only resume once there are no medium-risk regions in the city, according to Shanghai Administration of Culture and Tourism.

Suspended through to March 15 are all interprovincial group tours and airline + accommodation packages to and from land port cities other than those connected to ports in Hong Kong and Macau, according to a notice issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Travel agencies and online travel operators are ordered to enhance health monitoring of their staff and ensure regular nucleic acid testing of front-line staffers such as tour guides.

They should also control the scale of tour groups, the administration said.