- A tourist in China told the NYT she had 10 flights canceled due to a lockdown in a city she visited.
- She said she was banned from the airport even after she quarantined for three days and tested negative.
- It took her 10 more days after her three-day isolation to get home, she told the NYT.
A domestic tourist traveling around China said she had 10 flights canceled and it took 13 days to return home to Shanghai because the resort she visited was locked down after a COVID-19 outbreak, The New York Times reported.
Nicole Chan told The Times she was touring around the island of Hainan, off the south coast of China, for work as a freelance videographer.
After Chan arrived, the local authorities sent her a message on August 3, saying she was at risk of becoming infected with COVID-19 because she had been in the city of Sanya the day before when 11 cases were recorded, The Times reported on Friday.
Chan had to go into quarantine immediately for three days where she was based and get tested twice for coronavirus, she told The Times.
Her two tests came back negative and she finished isolating, but Chan told the publication she was banned from going to the airport because she had been in Sanya.
Chinese authorities imposed a lockdown on August 6 in Sanya in line with the country's 'zero COVID' strategy. It left around 80,000 tourists stranded in the beach resort city because flights were canceled and ticket sales were forced to stop.
The Associated Press reported at the time there were 229 confirmed cases on August 5, the day before the lockdown, and another 129 cases on August 6.
Chan told The Times that after her three-day quarantine period, it took her 10 more days to reach her hometown, Shanghai. In that time, she booked 10 flights that were canceled, she added. Chan told The Times she also had to get 12 negative coronavirus tests in order to be allowed to return home.
Flights resumed at Sanya airport on Monday, according to national news reports.
Chan eventually booked a flight home to Shanghai on Tuesday, but passengers had to wait on the plane for two hours before they could disembark because medical professionals had to come onboard, she told The Times. It wasn't clear what the medics did on the aircraft.
From there, Chan and the other passengers were sent to a quarantine hotel and were released the following day, she told The Times. When she got home, she had to quarantine for seven days, she added.
Chan told The Times she hadn't traveled much in China since COVID-19 broke out in 2020, but said "this experience has made it even less likely" because "there is too much risk."
