COVID outbreak strands tourists in Sanya city
About 80,000 tourists were stranded in coastal Sanya city, south Hainan Province, on Saturday as the city began a lockdown from 6am due to COVID-19 outbreak caused by the highly transmissible BA.5.1.3 Omicron subvariant.
It's the first time that the subvariant has been detected in China.
Sanya reported 80 new confirmed locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases and 49 asymptomatic infections by Saturday noon. From 12am on August 1 to noon of August 6, a total of 455 confirmed cases and 103 asymptomatic infections have been reported in the city.
The recent resurgence of cases has spread to Chongqing Municipality, Guangdong Province and eight other cities or counties in Hainan.
Sanya vice-mayor He Shigang said in a CCTV phone interview that the city detected clusters of outbreaks as it embraced millions of tourists during the summer travel season.
As gene sequencing showed, the virus was not brought in Sanya by domestic tourists. The infected are mainly local residents.
People now leaving Sanya should show two negative reports of PCR test in 48 hours.
Only those with negative reports within 24 hours are allowed to enter the Sanya Bay and Yalong Bay where most tourists gather, He said.
As to the city's relatively independent areas such as Haitang Bay and Yalong Bay currently not infected by the outbreak, special passes have been set up on roads.
Tourists from outside the city can still check into the hotel they booked with negative PCR test results and air or rail tickets entering Sanya. They should provide the negative reports each time they go out or enter the place, He said.
The central fishing port in the city's Yazhou District, about 50 kilometers away from the downtown, was the source of the outbreak, authorities said. Experts believe the outbreak was likely caused by fresh catch exchange between local and overseas fishermen. The infected mostly have links with the port, fishing boats, fishermen and fishing markets. The outbreak is currently trending upward, officials said.
