An employee works at a plant in Xiaoshan district of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on June 27. [Photo/Xinhua]
With COVID-19 formally downgraded from a Category A to Category B infectious disease, China will no longer require passengers arriving from abroad to quarantine starting Jan 8, although they will still need a negative nucleic acid test result 48 hours before departure, the National Health Commission announced on Monday.
The move marks a major step forward in China reopening its borders nearly three years after the country imposed strict entry restrictions to prevent imported novel coronavirus infections. Inbound international travelers currently have to quarantine for five days at a centralized facility, followed by three days at home, a requirement that is already down from up to four weeks in the past.
The policy shift is a timely response to the…
