China News Service, September 9th. According to Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao, the new crown epidemic in Bali, a tourist destination in Indonesia, has rebounded, and Thailand and Vietnam have reported community infections after a lapse of 100 days. These countries that rely heavily on tourism hope to resume welcoming foreign countries as soon as possible. Tourists’ plans are gradually being disrupted, and other Southeast Asian countries do not dare to expect to restart international tourism in the near future.

　　At present, in order to revitalize the tourism industry in some Southeast Asian countries, in addition to encouraging domestic tourism, they are also considering to use "tourism bubbles" or "tourism corridors" with countries with less epidemics to conditionally relax immigration controls for foreigners in order to save the dying. Tourism.

The coachman at the gate of Independence Square in Jakarta awaits tourists.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Lin Yongchuan

　　Indonesia has the largest number of new crown deaths in Southeast Asia, but the epidemic in Bali has been relatively good before.

As a result, the authorities decided to start welcoming domestic tourists in Bali starting on July 31, welcoming about 3,000 domestic tourists every day, including those from Java, the most severely affected island.

The authorities originally planned to welcome international tourists to enter on September 11.

　　However, after receiving a large number of domestic tourists, the epidemic in Bali has deteriorated sharply.

On August 10, there were 27 new confirmed cases in the local area, and 128 new cases were added on September 4.

As of September 8, the total number of confirmed cases in Bali has reached 6,385, with a total of 116 deaths.

　　The Minister of Health of Bali Province, Kedu, strongly denies that the increase in cases is the result of the liberalization of domestic tourism.

But Pandu, an epidemiologist at the University of Indonesia, said, “The increase in domestic tourists is one of the main reasons for the increase in Bali.”

　　Epidemiologists and public health experts believe that in addition to domestic tourists entering Bali may introduce the virus to the local area, the lack of detection and tracking mechanisms in the local area also makes the prevention and control of the epidemic weak.

　　Experts pointed out that, to make matters worse, the more infectious D614G mutant coronavirus appeared in Bali.

　　On the other hand, Thailand saw multiple community infections in succession last week, breaking the local record of no community infections in 100 days from May 23 to September 2.

This may affect the country's plan to open Phuket to foreign tourists on October 1.

　　Thailand’s Tourism Director Yutthasa said that the opening of Phuket to the outside world may be delayed.

He hopes that Phuket will open in time for European countries in winter, which is Thailand's annual tourist season.

　　In addition to Bali, Indonesia and Thailand, Vietnam’s earlier anti-epidemic efforts were also very effective. They were highly appreciated by the international community. The authorities have gradually relaxed domestic travel and other controls.

　　However, on July 25, the Vietnamese tourist resort of Da Nang suddenly appeared in the country's first community infection case in a hundred days. The epidemic immediately spread to Hanoi, the capital, Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city, and various parts of Vietnam, causing the country to once again enter a state of comprehensive anti-epidemic. The authorities strictly restrict domestic tourism, and allowing foreign tourists to enter has become even more distant.