China: 2000 tourists stranded in Guangxi's Beihai amid lockdowns to curb COVID-19 flareup

China has once again closed its tourist spots, citing the soaring COVID-19 cases in the Guangxi Zhuang region, leaving over 2,000 tourists stranded in the city. According to Global Times, the abrupt action from the authorities came after more than 450 people got infected with the lethal virus in the past five days. Among the areas which were forced to shut down, the authorities closed the main holiday resort of Beihai, where a large number of tourists gathered for dance entertainment venues, recreational entertainment venues, cinemas, gyms, swimming pools, bars, bathing centres and massage parlour.

Notably, the city of Beihai is located in the south of Guangxi and is one of the most popular tourist resorts in the city. Here, the tourists come to get a glimpse of Silver Beach, which is famous for its white sand and Weizhou Island-- a beautiful island formed by a volcanic eruption. As per the media report, the first case of COVID-19 in Beihai was reported on July 12, when nine tourists exhibited symptoms of infection. Subsequently, the health officials ordered mass testing in the region and detected 444 cases as of July 16. Citing the local health commission of Guangxi, it said a number of cities including Beihai, Nanning, Guilin, Hezhou and Chongzuo have been affected by the recent outbreak. 

Authorities failed to explain the fate of tourists stranded in China

According to the working team from the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council led by the deputy director of the National Health Commission Li Bin, said the epidemic situation in Beihai is "very serious". The authorities appealed to the tourists to get tested in order to stop the flow of the lethal virus among the local community. They assured the tourists who have already booked their hotels will get a full refund but did not elaborate further details on the stranding tourists in the city.

Recently, the Communist government imposed a complete lockdown in Xian, a home to 13 million people. According to local authorities, the city reported the cases of a new Omicron subvariant. The lockdown was implemented after Xian reported 18 COVID-19 infections from Saturday to Monday, all of which are of the Omicron BA.5.2 subvariant, according to local disease control officials.  

Mass testing in Shanghai 

In response to the surge in COVID-19 cases, Shanghai is rolling out mass testing to ensure early detection. As many as nine districts will conduct testing from July 19 to July 21, with residents mandated to take two tests within a gap of three days.   

Tianjin, a port city near Beijing, has also planned a mass-testing drive after finding two cases of COVID-19, CCTV reported.  

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