Thousands of tourists are stranded after a surprise confinement in China by covid-19

New omicron subvariant brings new region of China to a standstill 0:52 Hong Kong (CNN) — More than 2,000 tourists are stranded in a southern Chinese resort town after authorities imposed a sudden lockdown to curb an outbreak of coronavirus, while the country’s strict “zero” covid-19 policy continues to disrupt business and daily life. The city of Beihai, a popular summer vacation destination known for its white-sand beach and volcanic island in the Guangxi region, has recorded more than 500 infections in the past week, a major outbreak by China’s standards. This Saturday, the Beihai government closed the urban areas of the city – where its tourist centers are located -, ordered mass tests and prohibited residents from leaving their homes. Extensive Covid restrictions also reached Weizhou Island, an outlying islet more than an hour’s boat ride away and popular for its picturesque coastline and beaches. As of this Friday, tourists were ordered to leave the island, and hotels and pensions were ordered to refund their guests’ money without conditions. This Sunday, Weizhou Island closed all entertainment venues, from bars, cinemas and massage parlors to swimming pools. The island’s entertainment venues were also closed. In a press conference held this Sunday, local authorities said that the more than 2,000 tourists who were stranded in Beihai would be treated based on their level of risk of covid-19: those who had not been in medium risk areas or high and who had not been identified as a direct or secondary contact of an infected person could leave as long as they could show a negative covid test result; the rest would have to remain in the city and undergo quarantine. Two city officials were removed from their posts for failing to take adequate measures to prevent the spread of the virus, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The sudden lockdown of the resort is the latest example of the economic pain inflicted by China’s costly “zero cpvod” strategy. Last week, the country’s economy posted its worst quarterly result in more than two years, after months of harsh lockdowns wreaked havoc across the country. Mexico started vaccinating children against covid too late, says specialist 4:10 The Chinese tourism sector has been hit by seemingly endless travel restrictions and sudden lockdowns, especially this year. During the Labor Day holiday in May, only 160 million domestic trips were made, a third less than in the same period the previous year, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Many tourist destinations expected to see more visitors in the summer holidays, but new highly transmissible sub-variants of omicron put local governments under more pressure to control covid outbreaks. On Sunday, China reported nearly 600 locally transmitted infections, its biggest increase since May. At least 16 provinces across the country have identified locally transmitted COVID-19 cases so far this month, according to the National Health Commission. In Macau, the government said on Saturday it was extending the city’s lockdown until July 22 as it struggles to contain the biggest Covid outbreak in the gambling hub’s history. Macau imposed a lockdown on July 11, shutting down its casinos and barring residents from leaving their apartments except for essential activities like grocery shopping. Since mid-June, some 1,700 infections have been registered.