Blame the virus, don't scapegoat tourists

上周二上午，中国大陆报告了350例新的本地确诊病例和478例无症状病例。其中，300例新增发生在最南部的海南省。海南岛以海滩和海鲜闻名的旅游业首当其冲地受到最新疫情的冲击，仅在旅游城市三亚就有超过8万名游客必须接受为期7天的强制检疫。

The Chinese mainland reported 350 new locally confirmed COVID-19 cases and 478 asymptomatic ones last Tuesday morning. Of these, 300 cases were reported in the southernmost Hainan province. Tourism on the island, famous for its beaches and seafood, is bearing the brunt of the latest outbreak, as over 80,000 tourists are having to undergo a mandatory seven-day quarantine in its tourism city Sanya alone.

海南省政府正在尽最大努力帮助游客，通知要求所有酒店房价减半，并安排符合检疫要求的游客自周二起返程。报道称，当局将惩罚那些将房价降至标价而非实际预订价格一半的酒店。

The provincial government of Hainan is doing its best to help the tourists, by ordering all hotels to half the room rates, and arranging tourists whose conditions meet the quarantine requirement to go home since Tuesday. Reports say the authorities will punish hotels that are lowering rates to half the marked and not actual price.

与此同时，在中国相当于推特的微博上，一些用户指责游客“随时随地传播病毒”。

Meanwhile, on Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, some users are blaming the tourists for "spreading the virus wherever they go".

这再荒谬不过了。旅游者在度假期间有权去任何他们想去的地方旅游。任何对疫情防控政策稍有了解的人都会知道假期前会经历怎样的麻烦。飞往海南的游客必须在登机前48小时接受核酸检测，确保他们的健康宝是绿色的，并且在抵达时也要定期接受核酸检测。

It could not have been any more absurd. Tourists are within their rights to travel wherever they want on holiday. Anybody with the slightest knowledge about domestic COVID-19 pandemic control policies will know the kind of hassles one goes through before a vacation. The tourists who flew to Hainan had to undergo nucleic acid testing 48 hours before boarding their flights, and ensure that their health kit code was green, and undergo regular nucleic acid testing on arrival too.

只要游客遵守所有规则并合法旅行，他或她就不应因受到指责。

As long as a tourist obeys all rules and travels legally, he or she should not be blamed for visiting places.

此外，我们不要忘记，游客目前是最不方便的人，他们被困在海南，因为疫情而不得不改变行程。

Also, one must not forget that the tourists are the ones who have been most inconvenienced, being trapped in Hainan and having to change their schedule because of the pandemic.

旅游业是海南经济的支柱，是旅游者帮助海南省繁荣发展。游客们也响应了政府的号召，通过到海南旅游来促进国内消费。这就是为什么不应指责他们“传播病毒”的原因。

Tourism is the pillar of Hainan's economy, and it is the tourists who have helped the province prosper. The tourists are also echoing the central leadership's call to boost domestic consumption by visiting Hainan. That's all the more reason why they should not be accused of "spreading the pandemic".

全球新冠疫情形势依然严峻，来自海外的病例压力也很高。现在是团结一致，谴责病毒而不是游客的时候。

The global COVID-19 pandemic situation remains grave and the pressure of cases coming from overseas is also high. This is a time to stay united and blame the virus, not the tourists.

来源 | 中国日报 Chinadaily

译文 | 国家旅业 National Tourism