Chinese tourists make a splash in Wuhan as millions of visitors flock to former heart of coronavirus outbreak
- Images of a tightly packed pool party show how far efforts to revive Hubei tourism have come
- Visitors to province have to undergo health checks but World Health Organisation still warns against mass gatherings
About 2.7 million Chinese tourists visited Hubei, the province where Covid-19 first emerged, over the past week, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Images and videos that circulated online included thousands of largely mask-free visitors packed together at a pool party in Wuhan during a music festival that runs until the end of the month.
When the park opened in late June, it ran at 30 per cent capacity and asked visitors to stay 1.5 meters apart and wear masks.
Wuhan is now trying to return to normal and welcoming tourists after a strict months-long lockdown was lifted in April.
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Wuhan pool party shows China's ‘strategic victory’ over Covid-19, Beijing says
China has largely brought the pandemic under control and fights sporadic outbreaks with mass testing and contact tracing.