{"id":1153258,"date":"2022-07-19T16:03:56","date_gmt":"2022-07-19T16:03:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/07\/19\/tourists-stranded-in-china-over-coronavirus-surge\/"},"modified":"2022-07-19T16:03:56","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T16:03:56","slug":"tourists-stranded-in-china-over-coronavirus-surge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/07\/19\/tourists-stranded-in-china-over-coronavirus-surge\/","title":{"rendered":"Tourists stranded in China over coronavirus surge"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Chinese Coastal city \/ Credit: GETTY IMAGES<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

More than 2,000 tourists have been stranded in a Chinese coastal city after a surge in coronavirus cases.<\/p>\n

Officials in Beihai locked down urban areas and ordered the mass testing of its 1.9m residents over the weekend.<\/p>\n

It comes as concerns grow about the impact of China\u2019s \u201czero-Covid\u201d policy on the world\u2019s second largest economy.<\/p>\n

Last week, official figures showed the country\u2019s economy shrank in the second quarter of this year as Covid-19 restrictions hit firms and consumers.<\/p>\n

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Beihai, which is a popular summer destination in China\u2019s southern Guangxi region, recorded more than 450 infections in the five days to 16 July.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong><\/p>\n

While that level of cases may seem low by international standards it is considered high under the Chinese government\u2019s approach to the pandemic.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Beihai\u2019s local government said tourists who had not been in contact with anyone who had contracted the virus, or visited medium or high-risk areas, would be allowed to leave if they showed a negative Covid-19 test.<\/p>\n

The rest must stay in the city and be quarantined, officials told a news conference.<\/p>\n

One tourist on holiday in Beihai expressed her frustration in a comment on the social media platform Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, which has received more than 2,700 likes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just finished my 3 months lockdown in Shanghai. I just came to Beihai for a breath of fresh air, did I annoy anyone?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in China authorities are stepping up measures to combat rising Covid cases.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Shanghai\u2019s local government said it would require residents in more than half of its 16 districts to be tested for the virus, after holding similar tests last week.<\/p>\n

The major financial, trade and manufacturing centre only\u00a0reopened in June\u00a0after a two-month lockdown.<\/p>\n

It is one of several large Chinese cities that are tackling new clusters of infections.<\/p>\n

The Covid situation in China has \u201cworsened slightly on a national level\u201d over the past week, Japanese banking giant Nomura said in a note on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on our own survey, 41 cities are currently implementing full or partial lockdowns or some kind of district-based control measures, which involve stringent measures restricting the mobility of local residents,\u201d analysts Ting Lu, Jing Wang and Harrington Zhang said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese 41 cities make up 18.7% of China\u2019s population and 22.8% of China\u2019s GDP [Gross Domestic Product],\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

On Friday, government data showed the\u00a0country\u2019s economy contracted sharply in the second quarter of this year\u00a0as widespread coronavirus lockdowns had a major impact on businesses and consumers.<\/p>\n

GDP fell by 2.6% in the three months to the end of June from the previous quarter.<\/p>\n

Large cities across China, including Shanghai, were put into full or partial lockdowns during this period as the country continues to pursue its zero-Covid policy.<\/p>\n

GDP or Gross Domestic Product is one of the most important ways of showing how well, or badly, an economy is doing.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a measure of all the activity of companies, governments and individuals in an economy.<\/p>\n

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