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Strong winds from Tropical Storm Mulan are expected to lash China's Hainan island today after passing through the South China Sea, raising the risk of disrupting mass Covid testing on the popular tourist holiday island, which is battling an outbreak of the coronavirus, Reuters reported.

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At 10 a.m. this morning, Mulan was recorded to be about 400 kilometers southwest of Hong Kong and forecast to move northwest toward southern Guangdong province and Hainan Island, the Hong Kong Observatory said.

The Central Meteorological Observatory has issued a "yellow" typhoon warning and expects this year's seventh storm to reach the coast of Hainan Island in the Wenchang region of Guangdong province around noon, most likely around the Leizhou Peninsula. 

Winds of up to 62 kilometers per hour are expected, the Hong Kong Observatory said, issuing a strong wind warning.

By tomorrow afternoon, gale force winds are expected to affect most of the South China Sea, the Qiongzhou Strait, the Guangdong coast and Hainan Island, as well as the waters off the Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands.

Chinese authorities continued the lockdown in the capital of the island province of Hainan

Chinese media reported that a fourth threat level was activated in China for dangerous winds and torrential rain.

Storm Mulan could make testing for Covid more difficult in Hainan, where authorities are trying to contain a local outbreak that has stranded high-season tourists in the "Hawaii of China".

A large group of health workers has been sent to Hainan to help.

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