Tropical storm Mulan churns towards Covid-stricken Hainan island

A guard patrols the Marriott beachside hotel amid a Covid-19 lockdown in Sanya, Hainan, China on Aug 9, 2022 in this still image obtained from social media video. Araf/Instagram @arafsadventures via Reuters

BEIJING (Reuters): Strong winds from Tropical Storm Mulan are expected to whip across the South China Sea towards Hainan Island on Wednesday (Aug10), raising the possibility of disruption to mass testing on the holiday island that is grappling with a big Covid-19 outbreak.

At 10am (0200 GMT), Mulan was estimated to be about 400km (250 miles) southwest of Hong Kong and was forecast to move northwest at about 18 kph (11 mph) towards southern Guangdong province and Hainan Island, the Hong Kong Observatory said.