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CNN
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China will drop quarantine requirements for all passengers arriving from outside the country’s borders from January 8, 2023, its top health authority announced on Monday.
The country will also remove all other restrictive Covid measures for travellers, including quarantines for positive patients and contact tracing.
Authorities said the new policy was part of a new way China plans to handle Covid. China has downgraded the management of Covid to a less strict “class B disease”, in the same category as less serious illnesses, such as dengue fever. China will also call Covid an “infection” instead of “pneumonia”. The change is “more in line with the current characteristics and danger level of this disease,” the National Health Commission said in a statement.
“The less lethal variant of Omicron became the dominant strain of SARS-Cov-2, and only a very small number of cases developed pneumonia,” the NHC said in a statement Monday.
The existing quarantine policy for international arrivals to China was first launched in 2020 and modified in recent years. The most recent policy, which will end on January 8, obliges people arriving from outside mainland China and Macau to undergo it. five days of hotel quarantine and three days of self-isolation at home.
Travelers still need to take a Covid test before arriving in China, but passengers will no longer need to submit their results to a Chinese embassy or consulate and request a code. From January 8, travelers can test and view the result before boarding the plane.
The NHC also pledged to resume outbound tourism for Chinese citizens in an orderly manner, depending on the international Covid situation and the capacity of various domestic services.
China has very gradually eased its restrictions after closing its borders to almost all travelers in March 2020, when the pandemic began to spread to the rest of the world.
After nearly three years of lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing, China abruptly abandoned Its zero Covid policy this month followed nationwide protests over its heavy economic and social record.
At the same time, China is grappling with an unprecedented wave of infections that has strained its hospitals and is emptying pharmacy shelves. Since the world’s second-largest economy significantly eased its Covid restrictions, there is no clear data on the extent to which the virus has spread nationally. But several cities and provinces have reported seeing tens of thousands of new cases daily.
The abrupt change in policy has triggered panic buying of fever and cold medicines, leading to widespread shortages, both in pharmacies and on online shopping platforms. Long queues have become routine outside fever clinics and hospital wards overflowing with patients in the capital Beijing and elsewhere in the country.
China’s top leaders have recently indicated that they refocus attention on growth next year and have bet on easing pandemic restrictions to revive the economy.
China’s current goal is to prepare sufficient medical resources, according to the NHC statement. Large and medium-sized cities must quickly transform their “Fangcang,” evolving centralized Covid quarantine facilities, into designated hospitals with enough health personnel, the NHC added.
The NHC has also not completely ruled out the possibility of temporary and local restriction measures in the future.
As we manage epidemics, we should pay close attention to real-time comprehensive assessment of the intensity of epidemic pressure on the health system and the general situation of society and take appropriate legal measures. to limit people’s group activities and movements in a flexible way to flatten the curve,” he said in the statement, adding that lockdowns could be reimposed on nursing homes if the outbreak is severe.
CNN’s Selina Wang, Nectar Gan and Laura He contributed to this report
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