
Photo: Courtesy (Wikicommons)
On Friday, China announced significant revisions to its stringent COVID-19 measures for entering travellers, including reducing the required quarantine period from seven to five days upon arrival, followed by three days of isolation within the country.
There will be a rise in the number of flights to and from China, and the “melt circuit break” mechanism, the most significant current obstacle to tourism, will be dismantled.
Travellers can enter the country with just one negative PCR test within 48 hours of departure.
Another change is lowering the cut-off for a positive PCR test from 40 to 35.
Within China, the central quarantine period for close contacts has been shortened from seven days to five days as part of the announced relaxation of restrictions.
The quarantine will replace the three days of home health monitoring that had been in place.
Another evidence of relaxation came when the National Health Commission announced it would no longer be necessary to track down and quarantine “secondary close contacts.”