COVID lockdown turns Chinese tourist hotspot Sanya into a nightmare for stranded tourists

The island in the South China Sea recorded just two positive symptomatic COVID-19 cases in the whole of last year. Fast forward to this month, however, and the number of cases has suddenly soared, prompting a lockdown in the city of Sanya and leaving tens of thousands of tourists like Yang stuck on the island.

Sanya, the island’s main tourist hub, imposed a lockdown on Saturday and restricted transport links to try to stem the outbreak, even as some 80,000 visitors were enjoying its beaches at peak season. Many are now stuck inside hotels until next Saturday, if not longer.

Yang, along with her husband and child, is staying at a four-star hotel paid out of their pocket. The family is eating pot noodles every day to avoid spending more on food.

“This is the worst holiday of my life,” Yang, who is in her 40s and lives in Jiangxi province in southern China, told Reuters on Sunday.

Sanya reported 689 symptomatic and 282 asymptomatic cases between the 1st of  August and the 7th. Other cities around Hainan province, including Danzhou, Dongfang, Lingshui, and Lingao, have all reported over a dozen cases in the same period.

On Saturday, the sale of rail tickets out of Sanya was suspended, state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing the national operator, and more than 80% of flights to and from Sanya had been canceled, according to data provider Variflight.

Hainan has been closed to overseas tourists for the past two and half years since China, in response to the pandemic, stopped issuing tourist visas and implemented strict quarantine rules.

Sanya authorities have said that stranded tourists can leave the island starting next Saturday, provided they have done five COVID tests and obtained negative results for all of them.

However, Yang said the waiting times for test results have been long, prompting her to get multiple tests a day.

“We don’t know who to go to, and the internet only has positive news about Sanya, such as the Sanya municipal government has properly resettled the 80,000 stranded tourists as if the whole country thinks that (we) are not victims, but beneficiaries,” she said.