A simple negative test of less than 48 hours is enough to enter China: from this Sunday the mandatory quarantines begin on arrival in the country, the last vestige of its strict “covid zero” health policy that isolated the country for almost three years. they are abolished.
China was the only major economy that continued to impose quarantines on arrival in its territory that penalize tourism, although their duration had been reduced in recent months.
Travelers arriving in China were required to observe a five-day hotel quarantine, followed by three days of home observation. In June, China had already halved the duration of the mandatory quarantine for travelers arriving in the country: it was reduced to 10 days, from 21 previously.
Gradual recovery of trips abroad
The Health Commission has indicated that it no longer considers Covid-19 a “pneumonia” but a less dangerous “contagious” disease. According to the authorities, this new sanitary classification no longer justifies quarantines.
However, some restrictions remain in place: China has largely suspended the issuance of foreign student and tourist visas since the start of the pandemic. The Health Commission also mentioned a gradual restoration of overseas travel for Chinese, however, without advancing a timetable. Previously, only compelling travel was tolerated.
The power put an end without prior notice on December 7 to most of the measures of its “Covid zero” policy, in a context of growing exasperation of the population and considerable impact on the economy.
In particular, the government had decided to end large-scale lockdowns and stop the systematic placement of people who tested positive in quarantine centers, denounced establishments, with highly variable facilities. It is also not mandatory to present a negative Covid test to travel to another province. A decision applied overnight.
Restrictions for travelers from China
An abandonment of most sanitary restrictions that led to an outbreak of Covid infections in China, a phenomenon largely ignored by the authorities.
Faced with this explosion of cases, many countries have decided to impose new anti-Covid measures on travelers from China, such as France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan or Canada.
On the eve of the entry into force of this lifting of the quarantine, on Saturday, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg “discouraged” non-essential trips to China. In response, Beijing considered these measures “unacceptable”, without excluding the adoption of “countermeasures, according to the principle of reciprocity”.
Source: BFM TV
