China may be reopening, allowing its 1.4 billion people to come and go largely without restrictions, but just as it is, a slew of other countries are tightening measures for travellers from the world’s second-biggest economy, concerned the tsunami of virus cases there may spawn new Covid variants.
In a complete and surprising reversal of its Covid Zero policy, China did away with almost all pandemic restrictions virtually overnight. That’s seen the virus run wild and unchecked through its population, with almost 37 million people possibly having been infected on a single day last week.
From January 8, China will also scrap its quarantine requirement for inbound travellers, a step that’s seen as making it more likely for people to travel abroad after almost three years of total isolation.
Considering China had a massive outbound tourism market before the pandemic, other countries are now becoming wary of the risks of a resurgence in infections in their own populations.
The United States
The US will require airline passengers coming from China to show a negative Covid-19 test result, regardless of their nationality or vaccination status, from January 5.
Travellers who were also in the country 10 days prior to their departure to the US will have to show either a negative PCR or antigen test, federal health officials said Wednesday. The requirement also applies to travellers from Hong Kong and Macau.
Passengers who tested positive more than 10 days before travelling can provide documentation and proof of recovery from Covid in lieu of a negative test result. Airlines will need to confirm the negative Covid test or documentation of recovery prior to boarding any flight to the US.
India
India said late Thursday that it will now make a PCR test mandatory for people coming in from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand as of January 1.
Italy
Italy has introduced a mandatory rapid Covid-19 test for all passengers entering the country from China, according to a health ministry statement. The new measure also applies to passengers in transit.
The first European nation to be hit hard by Covid in early 2020, Italy is also urging other countries in the region to adopt a collective testing agreement, given they’re part of the open-border Schengen Area.
The move came after authorities in Milan earlier said that almost half of the passengers on two flights from China tested positive for the virus. Most weren’t showing any symptoms.