The National Health Commission of China has announced that it will withdraw on January 8 the requirement of quarantines at the entrance to the country that had been in force since March 2020, a movement that represents another step in the dismantling of the zero covid policy.
The health authorities explained this Monday in their official account on the Wechat social network that passengers will not have to request a green health code before their trip to China, a necessary requirement until now, although they will have to present a negative PCR test carried out in the 48 hours prior to the start of your trip.
The Commission declared that the covid will cease to be a category A disease, the level of maximum danger and for whose containment the most severe measures are required, to become a category B, which contemplates more lax control.
The measures are part of the new "General Plan on category B controls" presented by the entity, which added that the health authorities will stop referring to the covid as "pneumonia caused by the coronavirus" and will begin to use the expression "infection by coronavirus", given that the omicron variant "only causes pneumonia in a small number of cases".
The agency also notified that the limits on international air traffic in China will be withdrawn, which for two years has been restricted to less than 5% of what it was before the pandemic.
The shortage of flights has caused in these years an increase in the price of the tickets of the few available flights up to thousands of euros per unit at some times in recent months, causing protests from travelers.
In addition, the Commission pointed out that "efforts will be optimized" to facilitate visas for foreign citizens who want to visit China for reasons that do not specifically mention tourism but "business", "studies" or "family visits", after more two years in which the granting of travel permits to China has been limited.
Likewise, the Chinese government had limited in recent months the granting of new passports to Chinese citizens for trips not considered "essential".
Under the new covid classification, the authorities will not monitor those infected with covid or their close contacts, nor will they establish high or low risk areas according to the number of infections, practices that have been common during the validity of the guideline. Zero covid, the agency reported.
In November, China had announced a reduction in mandatory quarantines upon arrival in the country to five days of isolation in a designated hotel plus another three at home, a considerable reduction from the 21 or even 28 days that many cities once required. in some periods of 2022.
Since the country relaxed its zero covid policy a few weeks ago and the coronavirus spread among the population, many voices had questioned the usefulness of quarantines for international travelers.
The Chinese government assured earlier this month that the "conditions" were in place for the country to adjust its measures in the face of a "new situation" in which the virus causes fewer deaths.
The official press also began a few weeks ago to minimize the risk of the omicron variant through numerous articles and interviews with experts, a turn of argument that accompanied the relaxation of some of the most severe restrictions.
The changes came after the weariness of the restrictions crystallized in protests in various parts of the country after the death of ten people in an apparently confined building in Urumqi (northwest), with slogans such as "I don't want PCR, I want to eat" or "give me back my freedom".
