KUALA LUMPUR (August 11): Two of most popular tourism destinations in China - on Wednesday escalated their Covid-19 response levels by imposing "static management" in a bid to contain this wave of Covid-19 resurgence.

In a report on Wednesday (Aug 10), China’s Global Times (GT) said observers believed that climbing daily cases will deal a certain blow to China's tourist industry in August, due to some popular destinations being hit by Covid-19, from previously affected Guangxi, Inner Mongolia and Gansu to the recent cases in Hainan, Xinjiang and Xizang.

The report added that Xizang's Ngari Prefecture said the region will impose static management for three days starting from Thursday, encouraging tourists and residents to stay put during the period.

It said supermarkets and banks can shorten their operation hours and public amusement venues will be closed.

Previously, the cities of Lhasa, capital of Xizang region and Xigaze have imposed static management.

The entire Xizang registered 54 Covid-19 cases as of Wednesday.

GT said since this wave of sudden flare-ups comes at a time when the nation's tourism sector is at its annual peak, it has halted trips by millions of tourists.

The government mouthpiece said it found that at least 18 places in six provincial-level regions are under static management.

The report added that as a precautionary move, a number of Chinese tourist destinations that have not experienced epidemics have introduced measures to strengthen their epidemic prevention.

Dalian in Northeast China's Liaoning Province asked new arrivals to undergo a free nucleic acid test.

If they fail to receive one within 48 hours, they may be persuaded to leave the city.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that China warned about the spread of Covid-19 in several parts of the country, as authorities’ quest to continue wiping out the virus saw three makeshift hospitals hastily erected in Tibet, which is seeing its first cases since the start of the pandemic.

It said the new facilities provide 2,000 beds in the capital, Lhasa, and 1,000 in the city of Shigatse.

As part of its ongoing Covid Zero strategy, China mandates that all positive cases and their close contacts be isolated, often in government-built temporary hospitals.

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