Over 80,000 tourists trapped in Sanya, 'China's Hawaii' after COVID lockdown

In a recent COVID-19 travel update, more than 80,000 tourists are stranded in Sanya after an outbreak of Coronavirus in the region. Sanya is also famous as China’s Hawaii and, being a popular resort city on China's tropical Hainan Island, the place is visited by lakhs of tourists every year.

Soon after the lockdown announcement, public transportation was suspended and tourist’s movements were completely restricted from early Saturday morning. The trapped tourists have been asked to stay in for the next seven days, along with clearing five COVID-19 tests before leaving the city.
On Friday, He Shigang, the Deputy Mayor, had informed that some 80,000 tourists were in the city. As per lockdown protocols, everyone in Sanya or in the city since July 23 was asked to stay in and were not allowed to leave Hainan after 6 PM (China time on Saturday).


Sanya is one of the prime tourist destinations in the country, prized for its pretty sandy beaches and tropical forests. The hotels here are also quite expensive. On Saturday, more than 80% of flights were cancelled from Sanya and all trains departing from the city were also cancelled.
Understanding the inconvenience caused to tourists because of the sudden lockdown, the government of China has promised to help the tourists in the best way possible. Be it smooth travel booking/cancellations or providing half-price discounts on hotels, the government is making sure tourists in Sanya don’t face any difficulties.

As of now, the city is divided into two risk zones, high and medium. Sanya recorded 827 cases between August 1 and Saturday midnight. China keeps the counts of symptomatic and asymptomatic separately but Saturday's outbreak is among the most severe in China in several months.