Interview by Sébastien Le Belzic (correspondent in China), edited by Gauthier Delomez 7:41 p.m., August 9, 2022

While the island of Hainan in China is experiencing new contamination peaks, 80,000 foreign tourists are said to be stranded.

This is the case of Julien, a French tourist interviewed by Europe 1. He describes the conditions in which he finds himself stuck and confides the uncertainties about a possible unblocking of the situation.

The island of Hainan in China is in the grip of a resurgence of Covid-19: 1,500 cases have been listed since the beginning of August.

Result: nearly 80,000 tourists are stranded, including French nationals.

To hope to leave the island, it is necessary to present two negative tests in 48 hours in the zones where no patient was detected.

On the other hand, it takes three tests in 72 hours in places with a low number of cases.

The Europe 1 correspondent in China was able to speak with Julien, a Frenchman stranded on vacation in a city particularly affected by the epidemic.

>> READ ALSO

- Weakened by its "zero Covid" strategy, China on the verge of recession

The impossibility of returning to Beijing

"We can't go out, and if we go out, we have to put on the mask in the residence", first explains this Frenchman interviewed by Europe 1. "At the end, we all do the test in the same place. The QR codes green, yellow QR codes, with labels, etc", he describes, pointing out that there had been a peak at 18 contaminations this Tuesday, where he is.

"Every day, it goes up" in the surroundings, he adds, "we have to be careful. Fortunately, we can't go out".

Julien hopes to be able to return home to Beijing soon.

"A priori, no, it is not possible, but we are aware of nothing", he regrets.

"If we do seven days of tests in a row, we can go home, but no one has succeeded. We don't know anything, we can't know," continues the French tourist.

According to many other French people are currently on the island of Hainan.

"We are in the middle of summer vacation, in August, so of course there are a lot of people who are stuck here."