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Covid-19 outbreak strands 80,000 tourists at Chinese beach resort

Tourists have been caught up in Beijing’s “zero-Covid” policy, meaning they will have to test negative five times over a week before they can go home.

August 7, 2022
7 August 2022

The southern Chinese beach resort of Sanya has been declared a Covid-19 hot spot stranding 80,000 in a lockdown.

The restrictions came into force on Saturday morning, as authorities sought to stem the spread of Covid in the city on tropical Hainan Island.

There were 229 confirmed cases on Friday and an additional 129 on Saturday.

China’s ruling Communist Party sticks steadfastly to a “zero-Covid” approach that is increasingly at odds with the rest of the world.

A recent outbreak in Shanghai spread so widely that authorities locked down the entire city, China’s largest, for two months, trapping millions of people and dealing a blow to the national economy.

Railway authorities banned all ticket sales in Sanya while all flights were cancelled on Saturday.

Tourists wanting to depart Sanya have to test negative for coronavirus on five PCR tests over seven days, authorities said.

Hotels will offer guests a 50 per cent discount during the lockdown period, a city official said during a news briefing.

The lockdown comes during a peak tourism season in Sanya, which is famous for its resorts and beaches.

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