Sanya cancels flights to curb outbreak

Sanya Phoenix International Airport has canceled all inbound and outbound flights for Sunday to curb the new COVID-19 outbreak which has been prevailing rapidly in the resort city since the first case was detected on Monday, according to the local authority.

The city, at the southern tip of Hainan island, reported a total of 615 confirmed locally transmitted cases and 212 asymptomatic carriers from Monday to Saturday according to the local COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control headquarters.

A city-wide lockdown was imposed starting at 6 am on Saturday. While services for basic social operations, epidemic prevention and control and emergencies are fully guaranteed, public movement is now under strict control and all public transportation services have been suspended.

With the first confirmed case of COVID-19 detected in Sanya on Monday, the new outbreak has spread across Hainan island. The total confirmed locally transmitted cases and asymptomatic carriers had reached 723 and 237 respectively as of midnight on Saturday, according to the Hainan Provincial Health Commission.

Supporting teams with the State Council's joint prevention and control mechanism are arriving in Hainan from Guangdong, Sichuan, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Jiangxi to help cope with the developing situation in the island province.