HONG KONG    -    More than 2,000 tourists have be­come stranded in a resort town in southern China after authorities imposed a snap lockdown to curb a coronavirus flare-up, as the coun­try’s stringent zero-Covid policy continues to upend businesses and daily life.

The city of Beihai, a popular sum­mer holiday destination known for its white-sand beach and volcanic island in the Guangxi region, has reported more than 500 infections over the past week -- a major out­break by China’s standards.

On Monday, the Beihai govern­ment locked down urban parts of the city -- where its resorts and tour­ist attractions are located -- ordered mass testing and banned residents from leaving their homes.

The sweeping Covid restrictions also reached Weizhou island, an out­lying islet over an hour’s boat ride away that is popular for its scenic coastline and beaches. Starting from Friday, tourists were told to leave the island, while hotels and guesthouses were ordered to refund guests un­conditionally.

On Sunday, Weizhou island shut all entertainment venues, from bars, cinemas and massage parlors to swimming pools. Scenic spots across the island were also closed.

At a news conference Sunday, lo­cal officials said the more than 2,000 tourists who were stranded in Bei­hai would be treated based on their levels of Covid risk: those who had not been to medium- or high-risk areas, and who were not identified as a direct or secondary contact of an infected person would be allowed to leave providing they could show a negative Covid test; others would have to stay in the city and undergo quarantine.

Two officials in the city were re­moved from their posts for not tak­ing adequate measures to prevent the virus spreading, state broadcast­er CCTV reported.

The sudden shutdown of the tour­ist hotspot is the latest example of the economic pain inflicted by Chi­na’s costly zero-Covid strategy. Last week, the Chinese economy record­ed its worst quarterly performance in over two years, after months of harsh lockdowns wreaked havoc across the country.

China’s tourism industry has been hammered by the seemingly unend­ing travel restrictions and snap lock­downs, especially this year. During the Labor Day holiday in May, only 160 million domestic trips were made -- down by a third from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Many tourist destinations had hoped to see more visitors in the summer holiday, but highly trans­missible new subvariants of Omi­cron have placed local governments under more pressure to control Covid flare-ups. On Sunday, China reported nearly 600 locally trans­mitted infections -- its highest up­tick since May. At least 16 provinces across the country have identified locally transmitted Covid cases so far this month, according to the Na­tional Health Commission.

In Macau, the government said Saturday it would extend a citywide lockdown until July 22, as it grap­pled to contain the gambling hub’s biggest ever Covid outbreak.

Macau imposed the shutdown on July 11, closing its casinos and ban­ning residents from leaving their apartments, except for essential ac­tivities such as grocery shopping. It has recorded about 1,700 infections since mid-June.