(Bloomberg) --

China has locked down the beach resort city of Sanya after the number of Covid-19 cases there spiked to more than 200 on Friday from just 11 two days earlier.

Sanya will enter a “static management for the whole city” on Saturday, the local government announced in a statement. “Static management” is a term commonly used by authorities when referring to lockdowns. 

Movement will be restricted for everyone except for those who provide essential public services and people needed in Covid-related and other emergency work, according to the announcement. All public transportation will be suspended until further notice. Sales of railway tickets out of Sanya have been suspended and tourists in the city’s hotels will be required to take five nucleic acid tests in the next seven days starting Saturday and a final assessment before they can leave, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Measures to contain the outbreak have been implemented in broad areas of Hainan, the southern province in which Sanya is located.

People who are currently in Sanya or who have visited the city since July 23 are barred from leaving the Hainan island at present and will be required to take nucleic acid tests, the provincial government said in a statement Saturday, adding that residents in the province are encouraged not to leave the island unless necessary. 

Danzhou, another city in Hainan, announced a partial lockdown starting 2 p.m. Saturday, according to a government notice.

Sanya -- often called the “Hawaii of China” -- added 257 new cases on Friday, according to two announcements by the city government. Officials reported another 129 infections as of 12 p.m. local time Saturday.

About 80,000 tourists are stranded in Sanya, one of China’s most popular summer holiday destinations, vice mayor He Shigang said in an interview with the state broadcaster on Friday night. Almost 80% of flights out of the city had been canceled by 1 p.m. on Saturday, according to news.carnoc.com, an civil aviation information website. 

Earlier this week, the authorities partially locked down the city by closing indoor venues and banning people in high-risk areas from leaving their homes. 

 

(Updates with report on Covid test requirment for Sanya tourists in third paragraph, Hainan province measures from fourth.)

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