Winter camps for Shanghai primary school children, which were scheduled to be held from January 20 to February 16, have been cancelled.

Youth League Shanghai, the organizer of the camps, announced the decision on Sunday and said it was due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The camps were supposed to be have been held at dozens of locations around the city and attended by children every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon during the winter school holiday.

The camps, similar to popular ones held by the same organization for years in summer, addressed the needs of the city's working parents for third parties to take care of their children.

The recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin involves several patients working or attending a child care facility.