(Beijing) More than 80,000 tourists are stranded on southern China’s Hainan Island after COVID-19 cases were detected prompting authorities to cancel all flights and trains locally.
Posted at 8:36
On Sunday, 483 cases of coronavirus were reported in the resort city of Sanya, which has more than one million inhabitants, on the island of Hainan, nicknamed “Chinese Hawaii”.
All flights from Sanya, a popular place for surfers in particular, were canceled over the weekend, and the sale of train tickets was suspended.
Tourists wishing to leave must have had five negative PCR tests in the past seven days, health authorities said.
Hotels in the city must offer their customers a 50% discount until travel restrictions are lifted, a representative of the authorities said during a press briefing on Saturday.
In Sanya, public entertainment venues like spas, karaoke bars and bars have been closed since last week, but essential services like supermarkets and pharmacies remain open.
China is the only major economy that continues to implement a zero-COVID-19 strategy, imposing lockdowns and long quarantines that penalize local tourism.
The country’s borders have been almost completely closed since the beginning of 2020, preventing the entry of foreign visitors.