The Chinese resort city of Sanya has ordered all tourists to take polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, and those who fail to do so by noon on Tuesday will be slapped with a yellow code restricting their mobility, according to local officials.
The city in the southern province of Hainan logged two asymptomatic Covid-19 cases on Monday. It carried out a round of mass testing and locked down several areas in Haitang district, including a scenic island that received around 2,000 tourists on Monday.
Why the National Day ‘golden week’ holiday is causing frustration in China
The restrictive measures came on the third day of the National Day “golden week” holiday, which is traditionally marked by travel and family gatherings but has been marred by harsh Covid-19 controls this year as sporadic outbreaks emerge across the country.
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The holiday also falls just before the Communist Party’s national congress in Beijing, a twice-a-decade event that begins on October 16.
Some tourists in Haitang, which includes surfing community Houhai Bay, reported that their health codes had turned yellow since Monday. Some shopping malls and restaurants in the district have closed.
“Those who have not completed a PCR test by 12pm on October 4 will be subject to a yellow code,” local health authorities wrote in a notice on Monday. “Those who obtain a negative result after one PCR test can get their green code back.”
According to unverified social media posts, visitors flooded testing centres and many travellers snapped up tickets to leave the city.
Some tourists stranded in Sanya have taken to social media to voice their discontent.
“The pandemic [containment] in Sanya is one size fits all and assigns the yellow code arbitrarily,” one commenter wrote on Weibo. “[I] can’t check in, can’t board a plane and there’s no place to do PCR tests ... Are there any reasonable [rules] in this society?”
In August, Sanya imposed a lockdown that trapped more than 80,000 tourists at the height of the summer holiday.
Travel just a memory for Chinese staying home for the National Day holiday
Emergency travel restrictions were put in place in the city days after the first cases were reported in early August. Trains and flights were cancelled and public transport was suspended as part of China’s dynamic zero-Covid policy, which seeks to curb transmission chains as soon as possible.
Covid-19 controls have also led to travel chaos in Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture in Yunnan province and other popular tourist destinations during the National Day holiday, causing frustration.
Xishuangbanna reported 27 Covid-19 infections on Tuesday morning. Since Monday, night markets have been closed, some residential areas and hotels have been sealed off and part of the prefecture is under a three-day lockdown.
Residents and tourists should undergo three PCR tests in three days, while travellers from Xishuangbanna are subject to a seven-day quarantine if they travel to other parts of Yunnan province, according to local health authorities.
More from South China Morning Post:
- ‘Sense of unease’: stuck in Sanya after escaping Shanghai’s Covid lockdown
- Why the National Day ‘golden week’ holiday is causing frustration in China
- Tens of thousands of Chinese tourists stranded in island resort of Sanya after city imposes Covid lockdown
- Coronavirus: Chinese beach city Sanya reports nearly 200 new cases despite blanket lockdown
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