The provincial capital city of Haikou, with about 2.9 million residents, and two smaller towns, Ledong and Chengmai, locked down its residents on Monday, according to state media reports.
At least eight cities and towns, with a combined population of about 7 million, said their residents must not leave where they live except for necessary reasons such as Covid tests, grocery shopping or essential job roles. They also suspended public transport services.
The measures will stay in place for varying periods, with the shortest scheduled for a few hours, state media reports show.
About 25,000 tourists were stranded in Sanya, the hardest-hit city in Hainan’s outbreak and the island’s key tourist hub, as of Sunday. Although cities have said tourists can leave after Covid tests, many were frustrated about the disruption.
In the Hainan city of Qionghai, which is scheduled to be locked down for three days, all flights at Qionghai Boao Airport scheduled for Monday were canceled because of “public security reasons.”
Nationwide, China reported 807 locally transmitted virus cases for Sunday, of which were 324 symptomatic and 483 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said.
There were no new deaths, keeping the nation’s fatalities unchanged at 5,226.
As of Sunday, mainland China had confirmed 231,266 cases with symptoms, including both local patients and symptomatic international travelers.
