Guangxi: New COVID-19 infections in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Gansu province are rising, prompting efforts to care for stranded tourists and affected residents amid multiple rounds of testing and regional lockdowns, according to local authorities.
Beihai city in South China’s Guangxi reported 110 infections on Sunday, with the tally since July 12 topping 530. Nanning, the region’s capital, as well as the cities of Chongzuo and Guilin also reported positive cases in the past week.
Beihai will roll out two more rounds of mass nucleic acid testing on Monday and Tuesday following five rounds completed in the past week, said local officials.
The outbreak occurred amid a tourism boom as travelers flocked to the coastal city for summer vacation. The city has set up a team designated to care for the over 2,000 tourists stranded due to COVID curbs.
Hotels should not turn away tourists whose digital health code status is abnormal but who can present negative nucleic acid test results taken within 48 hours and have not visited medium- or high-risk areas, local officials said.
They also asked hotels and hostels, as well as airlines operating flights at the airport, to offer full refunds to guests who have made reservations or bought tickets but cannot come due to the epidemic.
Jiang Tao, an employee at a tourism agency, said most travelers arriving in Beihai before the infection cluster surfaced came from neighboring Guangdong province.
–The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
