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On January 8, the measure that makes entry to China more flexible will come into force, eliminating the famous quarantine in centralized hotels that was mandatory for all incoming passengers in the country. Control measures for imported goods are also lifted. Business trips, student exchanges and family visits by foreign residents are reactivated after so long.
By RFI China correspondent
The State Council yesterday justified the measure by lowering the level of covid-19 from class A infectious disease, the highest level, to class B disease. Now, the official term that China will use will be “infection by the novel coronavirus”. This reduction brings the end of the official communication of new daily cases, an announcement that had been maintained since the first days of the pandemic, although it certainly already offered opaque data and very far from reality.
The announcement of the measure, which only maintains the requirement to provide a negative COVID-19 test result 48 hours before departure, has caused an avalanche of plane ticket purchases. The planned date of January 8 coincides with the beginning of the month-long vacation for the Spring Festival or Chinese New Year, an event that mobilizes millions of Chinese.
The long-awaited news has stunned many who expected the restrictions to last until after Chinese New Year, which falls on January 22, 2023 this year.
International air traffic had been reduced during the last three years to about 5% compared to the traffic before the start of the pandemic. Reduced flights and strict requirements have kept airline ticket prices exorbitant. Now, with the opening of new air routes, announced since last December 7, it is significantly lowering prices.
The opening of China comes amid the incessant increase in covid-19 infections, causing great pressure on the health system, with saturated hospitals, the opening of fever clinics in convention centers or old testing centers, as well as medical professionals doubling shifts
After the announcements of the relaxation of restrictions and with the increase in infected people in China, now other countries are beginning to demand Covid-19 tests to allow the entry of Chinese citizens, for example Japan or Italy.
