From Aug 1 to noon on Aug 9, Hainan logged 1,899 new infections of COVID-19.
Epidemiological investigations and gene sequencing analyses show that the current outbreak was caused by the Omicron subvariant BA.5., according to Jin Yuming, chief expert of the Hainan Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Omicron subvariant BA.5 is becoming the dominant strain of COVID-19 across the world and is causing cluster infections in China, according to a Chinese health official last month.