CHINA. Just days away from the first of the country’s two major holidays – Mid-Autumn Festival on 21 September and the National Day holidays starting from 1 October – authorities are battling hard to curb the latest COVID-19 outbreak. The two holidays are all-important for China’s domestic travel retail sector, including the Hainan offshore duty free business.
The outbreak began when a single case was reported on 10 September in Putian, Fujian province. The following day saw 20 indigenous cases in Fujian (19 in Putian), according to the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, followed a day later by 22 indigenous cases in Fujian (15 in Putian, 6 in Quanzhou and 1 in Xiamen).
By 13 September the number of Fujian local transmissions had risen to 59 (32 in Xiamen, 24 in Putian and 3 in Quanzhou). Today, the National Health Commission reported 50 new cases in Fujian (for 14 September).
The Hainan authorities are treating the new outbreak seriously. The Haikou Center for Disease Control and Prevention has implemented a series of strict measures to prevent any outbreak on the island. It said in a statement yesterday: “People who come to (return) to Haikou from domestic medium and high-risk areas such as Xianyou County, Putian City, Fujian Province shall be quarantined for 14 days (counting from leaving the medium and high-risk areas), and on the 1st and 13th days Samples are taken for free nucleic acid testing.”
It added: “For the health and safety of you and your family members, citizens and tourists are requested to pay attention to official authoritative announcements in a timely manner, and actively cooperate with the epidemic prevention and control work.”
State media Global Times quoted a Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control statement issued Tuesday saying that due to the domestic cluster infections and the continuing global pandemic, Beijing’s epidemic prevention and control is “grim and complex” and all citizens must not ease their efforts in abiding by prevention measures.
The report said that Beijing residents are advised not to travel abroad unless for essential trips, and not to visit areas classified as medium- and high-risk zones for COVID-19 in the country.
The Beijing government called on those planning to travel domestically to complete full COVID-19 vaccination before leaving the city. The capital launched a vaccination programme for young people aged 15 to 17 in July and people aged 12 to 14 in August, Global Times reported.
Many other cities in China have issued similar travelling notices for local residents. Several cities including Xi’an in Northwest China’s Shaanxi Province and Guilin in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Monday called on local residents not to leave the city unless absolutely necessary during the two major holidays, the report said.
