In a major shift to its Covid Zero policy, China on Tuesday reduced quarantine times for incoming travelers by half as its draconian measures to curb the Covid-19 pandemic left its huge economy isolated.
Incoming travelers to China will need to spend seven days in a quarantine facility and monitor their health at home for three days, a revised government protocol released by China’s National Health Commission (NHC).
Earlier China required incoming travelers to mandatorily quarantine themselves at a hotel for 14 days and required them to isolate themselves for as many as 21 days.
The change in policy came after Beijing and Shanghai reported zero infections for the first time since February.
This indicated China’s so-called victory over the highly contagious omicron variant which came at the cost of citizens in Shanghai starving to their deaths, jumping from their balconies in dismay or police brutality being exacted on them for non-adherence to Covid norms.
Despite Covid cases rising globally China reported 22 cases on Monday. There were 78 Covid-19 cases detected among incoming travelers.
However, the unwavering commitment to Covid Zero policy remains in Beijing. The policy which aims to eliminate every trace of the virus.
Lei Zhenglong, an NHC official, according to a report by Bloomberg, said the new rules were optimized for China’s disease prevention and control work. “(These) don’t signal a change in course. It’s absolutely not loosening up, but a more scientific and targeted approach,” Zhenglong was quoted as saying by news agency Bloomberg.
“China is still way far from opening up,” Huang Yanzhong, a senior fellow for global health at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations was quoted as saying by Bloomberg, referring to the negative Covid test requirement in China, a rule which many nations have now ditched.
Huang also referred to the ‘complex web of domestic restrictions’ which Chinese people encounter while traveling within China. He said those restrictions need to be adjusted without which risks and uncertainties will remain for those traveling to China, thus affecting the effectiveness of the recently announced measure.
A change in testing requirements was also brought forth. Travelers are now required to give throat swabs, rather than nasal ones. There is also no mention of any vaccination requirements for travelers.
Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention official Wang Liping said the shift was based on science.
“The adjustment caters to our study of the characteristic of the omicron variant, and will not increase the risk of transmission,” Wang was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
Lei Zhenglong, the NHC official said that upon finding the omicron variant has a shorter incubation period the decisions were taken. He said two other factors also drove the change – the outbreak coming under control and trial runs exhibiting that shorter quarantine periods were successful.
(with inputs from Bloomberg)
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