By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters), -China Eastern Airlines Corp has asked for authorization from the U.S. Transportation Department in order to temporarily transfer New York flights to Shanghai over COVID-19.

According to the carrier, “evolving coronavirus control measures in Shanghai have caused China Eastern to be instructed by Chinese aviation officials” “to divert Shanghai bound passenger flights arriving in the U.S.A. to certain alternative airports in China.”

China Eastern requested approval to operate existing two-weekly Shanghai westbound passenger flight from New York to China’s Fuzhou Changle International Airport until the end of April.

China’s aviation regulator announced Tuesday that it would divert international flights from Shanghai scheduled for March 21 through May 1, due to COVID-19.

Air China, China Eastern, Shanghai Airlines and Juneyao Air are some of the affected airlines, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Shanghai reported five new local symptoms on Tuesday and almost 200 domestically transmitted carriers of asymptomatic disease. On Wednesday, Shanghai said it had identified key areas and will finish testing everyone in these areas between Wednesday and Thursday.

According to a notice that was sent to internal and external suppliers and the company’s website, Tesla (NASDAQ) Inc will suspend production in its Shanghai plant on Wednesday and Thursday. The notice didn’t give a reason. Volkswagen (DE:) Group China announced that production would be resumed in Shanghai after a 48-hour suspension.