Sanya in South China's Hainan province has imposed temporary static control citywide, starting from Saturday to curb the latest COVID-19 outbreak that has spilled over into eight cities and counties across Hainan island, according to the local authority.

Sanya, at the southern-tip of Hainan island, will implement city-wide temporary static management starting from 6 am on Saturday, the Sanya COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control headquarters said in a notice issued on early Saturday morning.

It said, while services for basic social operation, epidemic prevention and control and emergencies will be fully guaranteed, public movement will be under control and all public transportation services will be suspended.

With the first confirmed case detected on Monday in Sanya, its total number of newly confirmed locally transmitted cases and asymptomatic carriers had reached 375 and 66, respectively, as of midnight on Friday, according to the city authority.

The variant was the Omicron BA.5.1.3, which got detected for the first time in China, said Yin Dapeng, deputy director of the Hainan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Experts believe the origin of the virus was contaminated imported seafood at the Yazhou fishing port in Sanya and Hainan dealers who were most likely infected during transactions with those overseas dealers, local officials said.

He Shigang, vice-mayor of Sanya, said there are still about 80,000 tourists spending their summer holidays in the coastal city, a popular island tourist destination. The local tourism sector has been doing its best to ensure good and comfortable services and has timely informed tourists of relevant policies.

A special mechanism has been established to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of tourists. Their requirements for cancellations of orders due to the the epidemic will be properly handled, said the vice-mayor.

Between Monday to Friday, Hainan reported a total of 426 confirmed cases and 77 asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 across the island, according to the Hainan Provincial Health Commission.