Sanya is known as the “Hawaii of China”.
Photo: HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP / Getty Images
More than 80,000 tourists have been stranded at a popular resort in China after an outbreak of coronavirus caused a lockdown.
Authorities canceled all flights and trains from Sanya, known as the “Hawaii of China.”on Saturday, a day after 263 positive cases were confirmed.
Travelers must now submit five negative PCR tests over seven days before being allowed to leave.
China is the only major economy still following a “zero covid” policy.
The country has recorded fewer than 15,000 deaths since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University. However, there have been concerns about the impact of the strict rules, including mass testing and local lockdowns, on the economy.
The restrictions in Sanya, a city in the south of Hainan Island and a popular surfing destination, come during the peak tourist season.
Essential services such as supermarkets and pharmacies remain open, but entertainment venues have been closed since last week, reports the AFP news agency.
Authorities have said they will ask hotels to offer a 50 percent discount until restrictions are lifted.
Sanya is not the only city that has gone into lockdown in recent months. About a million people in a suburb of Wuhan, the city in central China where Covid-19 was first recorded, faced new restrictions last month after four asymptomatic cases were confirmed.
Meanwhile, in June, Shanghai’s 25 million residents finally emerged from a strict two-month lockdown.
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