China Ahead of Dano Festival Holiday Amid COVID-19 Concerns

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi] The Dragon Boat Festival holiday from the 25th to the 27th begins while the COVID-19 cluster infections in Beijing have not been completely eradicated.

On the 24th, China's Global Times reported that although the spread of COVID-19 has not completely stopped, signs of recovery in tourism and consumption are emerging across China ahead of the holiday.

Chinese online travel platform Ctrip announced that during the week from the 8th to the 14th of this month, hotel bookings for the Dragon Boat Festival holiday increased by 12%, transportation ticket purchases rose by 7%, and reservations for tourist attractions also increased by 15%. The newspaper reported that although the spread of COVID-19 in Beijing has not stopped, in other regions where it is mostly controlled, tourism and consumption demand are increasing in anticipation of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday.

The Meituan Research Institute expects that about 91% of tourist attractions nationwide will be open during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday and forecasts that domestic tourism revenue in China could recover to about 73% of the level during last year's Dragon Boat Festival period before the COVID-19 outbreak.

During last year's Dragon Boat Festival holiday, more than 95.98 million Chinese traveled domestically, spending a total of 39.3 billion yuan.

Ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, the number of new COVID-19 cases in Beijing has dropped back to single digits. On this day, the National Health Commission of China announced that as of midnight, 12 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in China. Three of these were imported cases infected overseas entering China. Of the remaining nine, seven were from Beijing and two from Hebei Province.

In Beijing, a total of 256 confirmed COVID-19 patients and 22 asymptomatic carriers linked to the Xinfadi Market cluster infection are currently undergoing treatment and medical observation. Although authorities have repeatedly announced that the spread of COVID-19 is under control and there is no further risk of spread, cases of secondary infections among people who did not directly visit Xinfadi Market and infections among delivery workers who have broad contact with many people are emerging.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, Beijing city has limited entry to major public gathering places such as key parks, tourist attractions, restaurants, guesthouses, and hotels to 30% of their capacity during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. Group dining in restaurants, use of indoor exercise facilities such as gyms, and outdoor group exercise facilities are also prohibited. When using trains or airplanes from Beijing, where cluster infections have occurred, travelers must present a negative nucleic acid test certificate issued within the past 7 days.

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