‘Sense of unease’: stuck in Sanya after escaping Shanghai’s Covid lockdown
- Thousands of tourists are stranded on China’s tropical island of Hainan as it battles an outbreak
- One of them is Brian Hall, who fled to Sanya in June to work remotely as a public health professor
Brian Hall fled Shanghai in June to avoid another lockdown of his residential compound, escaping to China’s tropical tourist island of Hainan where he could work remotely as a public health professor after spending 10 days in quarantine.
“It has become impossible to leave the city. The hotel where I am staying is sealed and guests are not permitted to leave our rooms according to the city’s instructions,” Hall said via email. Hainan province is one of several Chinese regions that had seen relatively few cases for more than two years but are now battling outbreaks, raising the risk of persistent tight restrictions as the economy weakens.
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“My emotions naturally range from complete denial and disbelief, to anger, sadness, and eventually hopelessness,” said Hall, who like millions in Shanghai endured a strict two-month lockdown earlier this year.
“It is not so much the lockdown here, but the memories of the Shanghai lockdown that have revisited me, and the sense of unease about what the fall will bring in Shanghai and elsewhere.”
Although low by global standards, authorities on the island have locked down millions of residents, state media reported, as part of China’s “dynamic Covid-zero” policy that aims to stamp out outbreaks as soon as possible. People are allowed out only for certain reasons such as Covid tests, grocery shopping and essential job roles.