How the Virus Stands to Affect Your China Travel or Beijing Stay
As the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on Wuhan, this morning forcing the government to close public transport including planes, trains, buses, and ferries out of the city for the foreseeable future. The move comes just as people are gearing up to return home to celebrate Spring Festival and included nearly 60,000 inbound passengers to Beijing who were due to land between Dec 30 and Jan 20, making the capital the number one destination among citizens of Wuhan.
With the news that travel out of Wuhan has been blocked, except via road, Beijing's hotels have seen knock-on cancellations in the thousands. Prices for basic rooms in many five-star hotels in Wangfujing, usually around RMB 2,000 per night, dived as of Wednesday according to this post, with one five-star international brand hotel said to have canceled nearly 200,000 sales in one day. Price-wise, this may actually be a great time for a staycation in Beijing, just wear a mask in common areas to be safe.
Major hotels are said to have increased protective measures such as wearing masks and provided training on the coronavirus to their employees. Anyone with Wuhan ID must be reported to the local police station.
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So far, the spread of the virus is not having any noticeable effect on travel in and out of the city. People leaving Beijing Capital International Airport on Wednesday, Jan 22 and Thursday, Jan 23 reported that there was nothing unusual in terms of additional health checks and security. Daxing was described as being particularly quiet. Even so, it is advised that travelers arrive earlier than they would usually to avoid unforeseen problems with the additional CNY rush and any changes in health protocol.
One person speaking to the Beijinger described how upon touching down, health staff wearing hazmat suits boarded her Beijing-Amsterdan KLM flight after a Chinese passenger reported that they were feeling ill. Passengers were allowed to alight the plane once the individual in question had been checked over.
As of Thursday morning, there were still plenty of people riding the subway albeit with suitcases
Images: news1.news, Mike Wester
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