BEIJING: China‘s Hainan, an island province that relies on tourism, closed more areas on Monday, state media reported, as it saw far fewer cases in the past two years than many other regions of the country. The latter is battling its worst COVID-19 outbreak.
The island in the South China Sea, which recorded just two local symptomatic COVID cases last year, has reported more than 1,400 household infections this month, including 982 symptomatic. Although it is small by global standards, it is the province’s largest outbreak since the virus first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.
The sharp increase in cases comes amid a pick-up in interest in tourism after China slightly eased curbs aimed at domestic travel, accounting for the shorter incubation period of the Omicron variant, which facilitates a shorter quarantine time.
However, the curbs in Hainan, in line with China’s “dynamic COVID-zero” policy that aims to stamp out outbreaks as soon as possible, point to persistent uncertainty shrouding travel. That may further dampen confidence in the tourism and hospitality sectors, particularly vulnerable to COVID restrictions.
The provincial capital city of Haikou, with about 2.9 million residents, and two smaller towns, Ledong and Chengmai, locked down their residents on Monday, according to state media reports.
At least eight cities and towns, with a combined population of about 7 million, said their residents must not leave where they live except for necessary reasons such as COVID tests, grocery shopping or essential job roles. They also suspended public transport services.
State media reports show that the measures will stay in place for varying periods, with the shortest scheduled for a few hours.
About 25,000 tourists were stranded in Sanya, the hardest-hit city in Hainan’s outbreak and the island’s key tourist hub, as of Sunday. Although cities have said tourists can leave after COVID tests, many were frustrated about the disruption.
In Qionghai city, scheduled to be locked for three days, all flights at Qionghai Boao Airport scheduled for Monday were cancelled because of “public security reasons”.