On the afternoon of the 11th, at Haikou’s Xiuying Port, an essential city seaport for trading and transportation located 7 km. west of Haikou’s New Port, staff were carefully checking the nucleic acid test (NAT) certificates of every incoming passenger. Medical staff from the Fourth People's Hospital of Haikou were also on hand to give Covid tests to arriving passengers at the exit.

Medical staff giving Covid tests to passengers entering Hainan at Haikou’s Xiuying Port. WANG HONGXU

To better strengthen the control of the pandemic, the Health Commission of Haikou City has selected medical staff from various municipal medical institutions to form Covid testing teams at the airport, railway station, and ports, where they will conduct free Covid tests for those who do not hold a negative NAT certificate issued within 48 hours before arrival.

Zhang Zhiyao, a researcher at the Health Commission of Haikou City, explained that according to the latest requirements issued by the Hainan Provincial Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters, from January 11 to March 15, all those entering Hainan should hold a negative NAT certificate issued no more than 48-hours before arrival. If they do not, a Covid test will be administered upon arrival in Hainan, and the passenger will be permitted to await the results at their destination in Hainan. Passengers need to scan the Hainan Health Code when arrive, report their arrival to their local community (or hotels and or companies) within 24 hours, and take the initiative to monitor their health condition for 14 days after arrival. Those traveling to Hainan from medium and high-risk areas or other Covid-19 pandemic-related areas shall follow the existing prevention and control measures in Hainan.

On the 11th of January, a total of 168 medical staff were working in the city’s main transportation hubs. Meanwhile, to shorten the time for test results to be reported, after the test samples are collected, they will be sent to nearby medical institutions, third-party testing institutions, and inflatable testing laboratories. A nucleic acid testing laboratory has been also been set up at Haikou’s Meilan International Airport, and the time it takes to return test results has been shortened to 2.5 hours.

"At present, those traveling to Hainan from pandemic-related areas need to hold two negative NAT certificates issued within 48 hours, and the two tests must have been taken 24 hours apart," said Zhang Zhiyao. For those traveling to Hainan from high-risk areas, "14+7" measures will be implemented, which means the travelers will be quarantined for 14 days upon entering Hainan. Free Covid tests will be administered on the 1st and 13th days of the quarantine. After the 14 days, home health monitoring should be conducted for 7 days and a further Covid test will be administered during this period.

For your convenience, when entering and leaving the island, please prepare a negative NAT certificate before your travel date.