COVID-19 Not Over Yet... China Expects Sharp Increase in Tourists During Labor Day Holiday

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[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi] With the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in China not yet fully over, concerns are growing over a resurgence of the virus due to a surge in tourists ahead of next month's Labor Day holiday.

On the 23rd, China's Global Times cited the largest online travel agency Ctrip, predicting that the number of travelers within China during the Labor Day holiday from May 1 to 5 will reach 90 million. This is estimated to be double the number of tourists recorded during this month's Qingming Festival holiday (April 4-6). Ctrip forecasted that the Labor Day holiday period will see the highest number of tourists recorded since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Earlier this month, 43 million people traveled during the Qingming Festival holiday in China. Due to COVID-19, tourism revenue was 8.26 billion yuan, an 80% decrease compared to last year's Qingming Festival holiday.

Researcher Li Mingde from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences explained, "People who stayed home for months due to COVID-19 are now planning trips for the Labor Day holiday because the COVID-19 situation in China has somewhat stabilized."

However, most Chinese are likely to refrain from inter-provincial travel during the Labor Day holiday and instead flock to tourist destinations relatively close within their regions.

The Chinese government plans to continue measures during the Labor Day holiday to prevent excessive crowding at specific tourist sites by limiting the number of visitors to 30% of the venue's capacity, as COVID-19 has not been completely eradicated. Additionally, major tourist sites will only open outdoor spaces, and indoor event venues have been instructed to remain closed.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also requested its citizens to refrain from overseas travel or entering the country. In a notice issued the previous day, the ministry stated, "The global spread of COVID-19 continues," adding, "Outside China, the cumulative number of confirmed cases has reached 2 million, and deaths have exceeded 100,000. We ask Chinese citizens to temporarily refrain from overseas travel. Chinese people abroad should avoid crossing borders unless absolutely necessary."

Meanwhile, China reported 10 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in one day. The National Health Commission (NHC) announced on the 23rd at midnight that there were 10 new confirmed cases. Six were imported cases infected overseas and entering China, while the remaining four were added in Heilongjiang Province (3 cases) and Guangdong Province (1 case).

So far, a total of 82,798 people in China have been confirmed with COVID-19. Among them, 4,632 have died, and 77,207 have been discharged from hospitals. Currently, 959 patients are receiving hospital treatment for COVID-19, 20 are suspected cases, and 8,429 close contacts are under medical observation. The number of asymptomatic infections, which are not included in the confirmed case statistics, currently stands at 984, including 27 newly added cases in one day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.