People queue outside a fever clinic in Beijing on December 14, 2022, just days after the country eased Covid control measures amid sub-freezing weather in the capital.
Ngoc Huyen Truong | afp | beautiful pictures
China will stop requiring domestic travelers to be quarantined starting January 8, the National Health Commission said on Monday in an important step towards easing border restrictions, which has been largely closed since 2020.
China’s health authorities said in a statement, China’s management of Covid-19 would also be downgraded to a less stringent Grade B from the current top-level Grade A, as the disease has become more severe. less dangerous and will gradually develop into a common respiratory infection.
Three years of zero-tolerance measures, ranging from border closures to regular blockades, have had a negative impact on the Chinese economy, triggering the greatest public discontent on the mainland in October. since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012.
But China abruptly changed policy this month, dropping nearly all of its Covid-19 curbs in the country in a move that forced hospitals across the country to leave. scramble to cope with a nationwide wave of infections.
Strict requirements for domestic travelers still apply, including a mandatory five-day quarantine at a government-supervised facility and an additional three-day home quarantine.
That restriction and one on the number of passengers on international flights will be lifted from January 8, the health authority said. However, travelers entering China will still have to undergo testing. PCR 48 hours before departure.
The government said arrangements for foreigners to come to China, such as for work and business, will be improved and the necessary visas will also be facilitated.
However, passenger entry and exit operations at sea and land ports will gradually resume, while the travel of Chinese nationals will be restored “in an orderly manner”, it added.
As of January 2020, China has classified COVID-19 as a Class B infectious disease but manages it according to Class A protocols that cover diseases such as plague and cholera, giving local governments the right to isolate patients and their close contacts and blockade areas.
While China downgraded its management of the new corona virus, the National Health Commission said disease control and prevention procedures at key facilities such as elderly care facilities will be strengthened.
If an outbreak becomes severe, the organization will apply so-called “closed management” to prevent the spread of infections, the agency said.
China will also further increase vaccination rates for the elderly and promote second vaccinations for those at high risk of severe illness.
China is the last major country to move towards treating COVID as an endemic disease. Its containment measures have slowed the $17 trillion economy to its slowest growth in nearly half a century, disrupting supply chains and global trade.
