Trapped in Paradise

At 4:28 p.m. on August 9, a plane carrying 125 tourists took off from Sanya Phoenix International Airport in Sanya, Hainan Province, heading for Xi’an, Shaanxi Province.

These tourists were the first to return home after getting stranded in Sanya as a result of new COVID-19 cases that began emerging on August 1.

More return journeys have been arranged for stranded tourists who passed their health checks. A system for handling applications for return tickets began to operate from August 10, said a notice from the Hainan provincial COVID-19 prevention and control headquarters.

According to the headquarters, tourists in areas that have not been affected can apply to leave the island after producing two negative nucleic