Vice Mayor He Shigang on Friday said about 80,000 tourists remained in the city. Everyone currently in Sanya, as well as people who have been in the city since July 23, were not allowed to leave Hainan province after 18:00 local time on Saturday, provincial authorities said. The restrictions come at the height of the summer tourist season for the island province, a popular destination often called China’s Hawaii for its sandy beaches, rainforests and luxury hotels. More than 80% of flights departing from Sanya were canceled on Saturday, according to data from flight tracking company Variflight. All trains departing from Sanya were cancelled, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday. Authorities in Sanya acknowledged the inconvenience to tourists and pledged during a press conference on Saturday afternoon to do their best to resolve emerging issues, including streamlining travel cancellations and offering half-price discounts on stays hotels for stranded tourists in Sanya. The city was divided into high- and medium-risk zones, with control measures varying according to the level of risk, according to local officials. The entire city, however, was considered under “static management” — an official term used to describe the implementation of lockdown measures. The city, located on the southern tip of Hainan Island, has recorded 827 cases from Aug. 1 to midnight on Saturday, including 240 confirmed cases and 173 asymptomatic cases on Saturday, provincial health authorities said in a statement on Sunday morning. China counts symptomatic and asymptomatic cases separately. Saturday’s numbers make the outbreak the most severe in China, which reported a total of 736 confirmed and asymptomatic local cases nationwide for the day. Authorities said they identified the highly contagious Omicron BA.5.1.3 subvariant in the outbreak, which they believe spread to the island through contact with overseas seafood traders in Sanya’s Yazhou fishing port. A second city in Hainan, Danzhou, announced partial lockdown measures on Saturday afternoon, according to an official release. Hainan provincial authorities also announced province-wide nucleic acid testing on Saturday as cases were detected in other parts of the island. The latest measures come as China’s economy struggles under its strict “zero Covid” policy, in which it aims to suppress the spread of the infection through lockdowns, mass testing and tough border controls.
title: “Sanya Covid Lockdown Thousands Of Tourists Stranded In China S Hawaii " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-12” author: “Nancy Jones”
Vice Mayor He Shigang on Friday said about 80,000 tourists remained in the city. Everyone currently in Sanya, as well as people who have been in the city since July 23, were not allowed to leave Hainan province after 18:00 local time on Saturday, provincial authorities said. The restrictions come at the height of the summer tourist season for the island province, a popular destination often called China’s Hawaii for its sandy beaches, rainforests and luxury hotels. More than 80% of flights departing from Sanya were canceled on Saturday, according to data from flight tracking company Variflight. All trains departing from Sanya were cancelled, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday. Authorities in Sanya acknowledged the inconvenience to tourists and pledged during a press conference on Saturday afternoon to do their best to resolve emerging issues, including streamlining travel cancellations and offering half-price discounts on stays of hotels for stranded tourists in Sanya. The city was divided into high- and medium-risk zones, with control measures varying according to the level of risk, according to local officials. The entire city, however, was considered under “static management” — an official term used to describe the implementation of lockdown measures. The city, located on the southern tip of Hainan Island, has recorded 827 cases from Aug. 1 to midnight on Saturday, including 240 confirmed cases and 173 asymptomatic cases on Saturday, provincial health authorities said in a statement on Sunday morning. China counts symptomatic and asymptomatic cases separately. Saturday’s numbers make the outbreak the most severe in China, which reported a total of 736 confirmed and asymptomatic local cases nationwide for the day. Authorities said they identified the highly contagious Omicron BA.5.1.3 subvariant in the outbreak, which they believe spread to the island through contact with overseas seafood traders in Sanya’s Yazhou fishing port. Hainan provincial authorities on Saturday also announced province-wide nucleic acid testing for the population of 10 million, as cases have been reported in other parts of the island. Another city in Hainan, Danzhou, announced partial lockdown measures for about 1 million residents on Saturday afternoon, according to an official release, while authorities in Qionghai city on Sunday announced a series of measures, closing most non-essential businesses and ordering half a million residents to stay home unless absolutely necessary, effective that morning, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The latest measures come as China’s economy struggles under its strict “zero Covid” policy, in which it aims to suppress the spread of the infection through lockdowns, mass testing and tough border controls.
