A volunteer works at a nucleic acid testing site in Sanya, south China's Hainan province, Aug 7, 2022. Preventive and control measures have been taken in Sanya to fight the new resurgence of COVID 19 in the city. ZHAO YINGQUAN XINHUA Sanya, a coastal resort city in South China's Hainan province, is moving quickly to stem its latest COVID 19 outbreak, with medics, frontline workers and over 4,000 volunteers joining the fight.
From Aug 1 to 7 Sanya registered 801 confirmed COVID 19 cases and 409 asymptomatic infections, the provincial health commission said on Monday.
A task force was formed to deal with issues faced by the city's 80,000 stranded tourists, such as travel refunds. The city has ordered hotels to offer 50 percent discounts for stranded guests.
Medics are working around the clock at nucleic acid testing sites across the city. Wei Dixia, a head nurse at Sanya People's Hospital, said the testing site at her hospital is open 24 hours a day and samples around 4,000 people per day.
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Wei said that the screening process has become more efficient, with results now being released six to eight hours after testing.
A total of 33 hotels with over 6,900 rooms have been designated as isolation sites for close and sub-close contacts of COVID 19 cases, according to Ji Duanrong, secretary-general of the Sanya Municipal Government.
Sanya designated 168 areas as high-risk for COVID- 19 and 67 as medium-risk on Saturday. The city has set up a task force to ensure the supplies of food and necessities for residents living under closed management, according to Ji.
A team sent by the State Council has arrived in Hainan to work together with municipal and provincial authorities to curb the resurgence.
The National Health Commission said on Sunday that 324 locally confirmed COVID 19 cases were reported in the Chinese mainland, of which 259 were in Hainan.
The commission said 483 local asymptomatic carriers were newly identified on the day.
A total of 119 COVID 19 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery on the mainland Sunday, bringing the total number of patients discharged from hospitals on the mainland to 223,770. The death toll was 5,226, with no new deaths from COVID - 19, according to the commission.