BEIJING – China reduced the harsh COVID-19 regulations for entering tourists on Friday, cutting the quarantine period from seven to five days, followed by three days of isolation at home.
Additionally, more international flights will begin, and the “melt circuit break” mechanism—the main obstacle to traveling to China—will be removed.
Travelers will now be allowed to enter the nation with just one recent negative PCR test (within the last 48 hours of departure). Additionally, the PCR test’s positive threshold will be lowered from 40 to 35.
An easing of restrictions was also announced within China, with the length of time spent in central quarantine for close contacts reduced to 5 days, instead of the previous 7.
According to the announcement, COVID risk categories will change from the previous tertiary criteria of high, medium, and low to high and low.
Additionally, the notice states that reducing the number of individuals subject to travel restrictions is the goal of changing categories of COVID-risk zones.
Homes of infected people and locations they frequently visit where there is a significant chance of the virus spreading will be considered high-risk regions.
High-risk regions should only be designated for a certain building unit, and they shouldn’t be arbitrarily expanded.
The high-risk designation should be swiftly removed, along with any associated control measures, if no new instances are found for five straight days.
There will be a cancellation of the circuit-breaker system, which prohibits certain flight paths if overseas flights carrying COVID-19 cases arrive. Inbound tourists will only need to present one negative nucleic acid test result obtained 48 hours prior to boarding, rather than two.
Additionally, the notice calls for increasing COVID-19 drug and medical equipment inventories, setting aside more beds in intensive care units, boosting booster vaccination rates, particularly among the elderly, and speeding the development of multivalent and broad-spectrum vaccines.
