China has removed certain COVID-19 test requirements for people flying in from countries like the United States and shortened the pre-departure quarantine period for some inbound travelers, as it finetunes its stringent measures to cope with the Omicron variant, Reuters has reported.
The slight relaxations were made in response to factors including the “characteristics of coronavirus variants”, according to notices from Chinese embassies and consulates that did not provide further details.
From Friday, travelers from Dallas, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle will no longer need an RT-PCR test seven days before they fly, or any antibody tests, according to notices issued yesterday from the Chinese embassy in the United States and several consulates.
According to Reuters, those travelers will still need to do two RT-PCR tests within 48 or 24 hours of their flights – depending on which airport they are flying out of – plus another pre-flight antigen test, those notices showed.
Meanwhile, at a media briefing yesterday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described China’s “zero-COVID” strategy as “not sustainable” after similar remarks last week drew sharp criticism from China.
