China announced, this Friday (11), the relaxation of some restrictions to contain Covid-19, especially those aimed at foreign tourists. The measure was released at a time when the Asian nation again registers the increase in cases of the disease in some regions of the country.
Among the announced changes is the reduction of the quarantine period for travelers entering the country. Initially, these people had to stay in isolation for ten days before walking the streets; the new rule reduces the period to eight days, with five in isolation centers managed by the regime. During this period, travelers will still need to take six PCR tests.
In addition, the Chinese regime required those who arrived in the country to present two PCR tests done up to 48 hours before embarking to China – now, only one will be needed.
Authorities also ended a system of sudden flight cancellations. The measure served as a punishment for those companies that transported a certain amount of passengers with the virus.
According to the regime, the new rules will still allow executives and sports groups to bypass the quarantine, as long as they remain on a “closed circuit” during their stay in the country.
The measures announced this Friday also change some rules for local residents. From now on, for example, health authorities will no longer request the identification and isolation of people who have had contact with an infected person.
In addition, the rigid domestic disease control system, previously with three levels, will now have only two: high and low. Those people who move from high-risk areas to low-risk areas will need to be isolated at home for seven days and no longer in state facilities – low-risk areas are those that have not recorded any Covid cases for five consecutive days.
Workers in sectors where exposure to the virus is highest, such as aircraft crew, isolation center and airport workers, could be subject to lesser quarantines, the statement said.
Such decisions were discussed on Thursday (10), at a meeting of the Communist Party Standing Committee, and were approved by Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The announcement follows the increase in the number of Covid cases in the country; this Friday, the Ministry of Health announced 10,535 new infections, with the vast majority of those infected being asymptomatic.
This is a modest number compared to infection rates in other countries. But it is significant for China, where such outbreaks have been brought under control as soon as they emerge, with measures that include imposing lockdowns on entire cities and provinces, closing factories and commercial establishments and confining millions of people to their homes. for weeks, sometimes months.
The current main focus is Guangzhou, a manufacturing hub in the south of the country. According to the South China Morning Post, infections in the city are being guided by a variant discovered in Shanghai in July, the BA.5. more recently, in Brazil, BQ.1.
Also according to the vehicle, the Chinese regime ordered Covid detection tests to be carried out in the nine districts of Guangzhou where 90% of cases were reported and declared quarantine in one of the districts, Haizhu, in the center of the city.
In addition to Guangzhou, Beijing and other cities vital to the country’s economy, such as Zhengzhou and Chongqiing, also recorded high cases and adopted similar measures. In the latter, officials closed karaoke bars, nightclubs and other leisure venues citing a “complex and severe” situation. So far, however, there have been no announcements of a lockdown like the one that paralyzed Shanghai for more than two months.
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