BEIJING: As other countries lock down amid the coronavirus pandemic, China is free after multiple weeks indoors, and people are heading to tourist sites in droves.
Sites were packed during the country’s holiday weekend, despite warnings from health officials that the battle against COVID-19 isn’t over yet.
Photos from Huangshan mountain park were shared, showing thousands of people crammed together to enter the site during the country’s Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day.
At 7:48 a.m., officials declared the park at full capacity, according to state media the Global Times. The park allows no more than 20,000 people in per day.
The publication reports that Anhui province has begun a two-week tourism promotion, allowing all 31 of its scenic spots to be visited free of charge from April 1 to 14.
Shanghai‘s famous Bund waterfront was also overwhelmed with visitors, after weeks of being practically empty thanks to the country’s lockdown procedures.
“China is not near the end, but has entered a new stage,” Zeng Guang, Chief Epidemiologist with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Health Times.
“With the global epidemic raging, China has not reached the end,” he said.
China, originally the epicentre of the deadly outbreak, was recording thousands of new cases per day at its peak but has seen a lull in new ones lately.
China has relaxed its restrictions too soon, not bracing properly for a potential third wave of the virus, Hong Kong epidemiologist Yuen Kwok-yung said to media.
“So, in Hong Kong, we might have a third wave of cases coming from the mainland after a second wave … The epidemic is still serious in the society,” he said.
“At this stage, it is still not optimistic. What worries me the most is inadequate testing on patients with mild symptoms, which prevents us from cutting off the chain of transmission.”
