Quarantine period slashed for inbound travelers to China
Mechanics inspect a passenger aircraft at Beijing Capital International Airport.
China has slashed the quarantine period for inbound travelers as part of a series of optimized COVID-19 prevention and control measures released on Friday.
Overseas travelers to China will now only need to undergo five days in central quarantine, followed by three days of home quarantine, according to the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council, or the nation's Cabinet.
The current rules require 10 days of quarantine for inbound travelers in total -- a week in a central quarantine facility and three days at home.
The quarantine period for close contacts of COVID-19 infections has also been cut to five days at a central quarantine facility plus three days at home, from seven and three days previously, the National Health Commission said on its official WeChat account.
"The new measures aim to enhance the precision of COVID-19 prevention and control, while reducing the influence on economic and social development to the largest extent," the commission said.
According to the new rules, overseas flights to the Chinese mainland will no longer be suspended for bringing COVID-19 infections into the country.
The suspension mechanism was launched by the Civil Aviation Administration of China in June 2020 for international passenger flights to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, travelers boarding an airplane to the Chinese mainland are required to receive only one polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test in 48 hours, instead of two as previously stipulated.
The commission says close contacts will still be traced more precisely, but secondary close contacts, or the close contacts to the COVID-19 contacts, will no longer be identified.
COVID medium-risk areas will be scrapped and the number of people to be put under lockdown will be largely reduced. If no cases are found in a high-risk area for five consecutive days, the area will be considered as low risk.
Mass PCR screenings will also be restricted. Only the risky groups will be included in the screening, which cannot be expanded randomly.
A mass screening of a whole district will be carried out only when the origin of infection or the transmission chain remain unclear, along with long-term community transmission, the commission said.
