China: 80,000 tourists stranded as COVID-19 lockdown expands in Hainan

Thousands of tourists have been stranded in a Chinese beach resort after authorities imposed a lockdown in Sanya city of South China's Hainan province. Chinese authorities announced restrictions in Sanya due to an increase in COVID-19 cases on Saturday, August 6, Sky News reported. Vacationers wanting to leave the island need to test negative for COVID-19 five times a week.

Chinese authorities imposed the lockdown after more than 1,500 domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases were reported on the island this month, which included 1000 symptomatic patients. A total of 80,000 tourists have been stranded in their hotels until next Saturday. Tourists on social media have said that they have to pay for the full rate of their hotel rooms despite the officials announcing that hotels need to charge half the rate. Others have claimed that the price of food delivery and meals has increased dramatically and they need to wait in long queues to get tested for COVID-19. 

Authorities set up task force to address issues faced by tourists 

One tourist who spoke anonymously expressed hope that the city will not "turn into another Shanghai," Sky News reported.  Notably, a two-month-long lockdown was imposed in Shanghai and the city with more than 20 million residents reopened on June 1. A task force has been set up to address issues faced by more than 80,000 tourists stranded in Sanya, Xinhua reported. Medical workers have been working round the clock to conduct COVID-19 tests of people across the city. Ji Duanrong, secretary-general of the Sanya Municipal Government, informed that 33 hotels with more than 6900 rooms have been placed as isolation sites for close and sub-close contacts of COVID-19 cases. 

China expands lockdown in more regions of Hainan

On Monday, the authorities expanded the lockdown restrictions in more regions of Hainan, including the provincial capital Haikou as well as Ledong and Chengmai towns, as per the Sky News report. People have been advised to go out only for essential work like getting tested for COVID-19. The authorities have suspended the operations of public transport amid the rise in COVID-19 cases. Notably, China has been imposing a stringent lockdown and mass COVID testing to control the rise of cases since the initial outbreak in Wuhan. According to China's National Health Commission, as of August 9, China has reported 231,665 confirmed cases of COVID-19. 5,226 deaths have been reported due to COVID-19 in China while 223,878 patients had been cured and discharged from hospital.