Signs are emerging that the trouble in paradise is nearly over, at least for some Nanjingers stranded in southerly Hainan Province and the beach-side, resort city of Sanya, in particular. Their “extended holiday” is at an end and they’re coming home.
The first flights carrying tourists back to Nanjing from COVID-hit Hainan landed in our city this morning, 11 August.
As The Paper reported today, special arrangements have been made in order that those affected be exempt from paying for their own accommodation during the quarantine period.
Nanjing began its work to arrange “qualifying” travellers staying in Hainan to return in batches yesterday, 10 August. The first of those, a total of 228 of our city’s stranded tourists, took two separate flights to land home today at Nanjing Lukou International Airport.
By “qualifying”, they mean those who hold a Nanjing identity card or who have a fixed place of residence in Nanjing. They must also be identified as low risk by Hainan Province.
That province’s epidemic prevention and control headquarters also says return to Nanjing will not be granted for some. Predictably enough, they are COVID-positive infected persons, close contacts of infected persons and those in medium and high-risk areas.
The return procedure works by airline staff going from hotel to hotel to sell tickets. Passengers are then transferred to the airport in a closed loop. Upon arrival, those tourists shall travel in closed-loop transfer vehicles to their place of quarantine.
The “3-day, centralised-isolation medical observation + 4-day, home-isolation medical observation” is being implemented. COVID tests shall be performed daily and accommodation fees waived.
Back in Hainan, local health authorities reported an additional 559 newly confirmed cases this morning, for the 24 hours from 0:00 to 24:00 on 10 August, of which 480 were discovered in Sanya.
This brings the total number of cases in the Hainan outbreak to 2,126, of which 1,690 are in Sanya.
