China to Drop COVID Restrictions and Quarantine For Visitors in January

• Beginning January 8, visitors to China will no more be subject to COVID restrictions.
• China has ended quarantine requirements for visitors and will now manage COVID as a Class A disease.
• This announcement comes after China relaxed domestic measures, even though the number of cases rose.

According to China’s announcement, travelers to China won’t have to quarantine or adhere to previous COVID measures. National Health Commission.

The updated guidance follows. rare protestsThe country was roiled by the scandal. strict domestic “zero-COVID” policyChina eventually relaxed these restrictions in December. Visitors will no longer be required to adhere to COVID restrictions.

In the past, mandatory quarantines were extended to travelers for as long a 10 day period. However, the latest policies require a five-day hotel isolation and then three days in home isolation. CNN. Now, starting January 8, none of that will be required — although visitors will still have to show a negative PCR test result from 48 hours before travel, but will not need to submit it ahead of time.

China is also reclassifying COVID, and managing it as a Class B, rather than a Class A, disease. China will instead invest in medicine and vaccines, as well as increasing vaccination among vulnerable groups.

Part of that is easing restrictions for visitors to China — and, according to NHC, “the outbound travel of Chinese citizens will be resumed in an orderly manner.”

It marks another important turning point in the world’s response to the pandemic. China had held on to tight restrictions for longer than other areas. battering the economyThis is a way to anger citizens. However, loosening restrictions has led to an explosion of cases with the government no longer making daily reports on cases. According to Financial Times, officials in China estimated that 250 million people were infected in just the first 20 days of December — amounting to 18% of the population.

The NHC does not count asymptomatic cases anymore. sayingIt’s impossible. According to the China Health Information Center, there were 116.634 confirmed cases in China as of December 19. World Health Organization, with 28,493 additional cases in the previous 24 hours.