China has relaxed its strict corona access restrictions a bit. According to a statement from the Beijing Health Commission on Friday, travelers will have to spend five days in a central hotel quarantine after arrival instead of the previous seven. The arrangement that after the central quarantine must remain in home isolation for another three days, remains in force.
Part of the new rules is that travelers only have to submit one negative corona test within 48 hours before departure to China and no more two. The duration of the forced quarantine for people identified as close contacts of a corona-infected person within China has also been shortened. They now have to be in isolation for eight days instead of ten.
Airline fines will be abolished
The sanctions for airlines with which infected passengers have entered the country will also be abolished. In addition, a restriction will be lifted whereby airlines had to expect that flights would be suspended if they carried too many Corona-infected passengers. This led to frequent flight cancellations. In addition, the vaccination campaign should be accelerated, especially for the elderly.
No opening of the lockdown
The new rules are not a relaxation of prevention and control measures, let alone an opening, according to the National Health Commission (NHC). They are just an adaptation to the new situation of epidemic prevention and control and the new features of the coronavirus mutations. The classification of the corona risk areas has also been adjusted. In the future, only a distinction needs to be made between ‘high’ and ‘low’ risk. The “medium” category is abolished. This is intended to reduce the number of people covered by the control measures.
China sticks to strict zero-Covid strategy
As the rest of the world tries to live with the virus, China continues to pursue a strict zero-Covid strategy of lockdowns, mass testing every day, strict controls, contact tracing and forced quarantine. Still, the number of new infections has risen sharply in recent weeks, while the easily contagious omicron variants are spreading rapidly. The Health Commission reported more than 10,500 new corona cases on Friday, which is unusually high for China.
Exit restrictions for many millions of people
According to foreign estimates, there are currently travel restrictions on many millions of people who are responsible for about a tenth of the economic output. In addition to entry quarantine and recurrent lockdowns, there are plenty of other restrictions in daily life. In order to live or shop normally in the megacities, people usually have to prove a negative PCR test on their Corona app that is not older than 48 or 72 hours. They also have to scan themselves with their mobile phones everywhere at the entrance so that their movements can be tracked.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
