China said on Monday it would lift mandatory quarantine upon arrival, further easing years of strict virus controls as the country battles a surge in cases.
Having largely isolated itself from the rest of the world during the pandemic, China is now seeing an unprecedented surge in infections after abruptly lifting restrictions that torpedoed the economy and sparked nationwide protests.
And in a sudden end to nearly three years of strict border controls, Beijing said Monday night it would remove mandatory quarantines for travelers abroad.
Since March 2020, all passengers arriving in China must undergo a mandatory centralized quarantine. This decreased from three weeks to one week this summer and to five days last month.
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But under the new rules that take effect on January 8, when Covid-19 is downgraded to a Class A Class B infectious disease, it will no longer be necessary.
“In accordance with the national health quarantine law, infectious disease quarantine measures will no longer be taken against travelers and incoming goods,” the National Health Commission (NHC) said.
The move is likely to be welcomed by Chinese citizens and the diaspora who have been unable to return and see their families for much of the pandemic.
But it comes as China grapples with a wave of cases that studies show could kill around a million people in the coming months.
Many are now dealing with drug shortages while emergency medical facilities are overwhelmed by the influx of unvaccinated elderly patients.
“At present, the prevention and control of COVID-19 in China is facing a new situation and new tasks,” President Xi Jinping said in a directive on Monday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
“We should launch the patriotic health campaign in a more targeted way…strengthen a community defense line for epidemic prevention and control, and effectively protect people’s lives, safety and health,” he said.
Hospitals and crematoriums across the country have been overflowing with Covid patients and victims, while the NHC announced on Sunday it would stop publishing daily statistics on infections and deaths across the country.
That decision followed concerns that the country’s wave of infections is not being accurately reflected in official statistics.
Beijing has admitted that the scale of the outbreak has become “impossible” to trace following the end of mandatory mass testing.
And last week, the government lowered the criteria by which Covid-19 deaths were counted, a move that experts say would suppress the number of deaths attributable to the virus.
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The winter surge comes ahead of two major holidays next month, when millions of people are expected to travel home to reunite with family members.
Authorities expect the virus to hit poor rural areas hard, and on Monday called for guaranteed supplies of medicines and medical treatment during New Year’s Day and the Lunar New Year holiday week at the end of January.
In recent days, health officials in the wealthy coastal province of Zhejiang estimated that one million residents were becoming infected every day.
The coastal city of Qingdao also forecast about 500,000 new infections a day and the southern manufacturing city of Dongguan forecasts 300,000.
Unofficial surveys and models based on search engine terms suggest the wave may have peaked in some major cities like Beijing and Chongqing.
A survey of more than 150,000 residents of the southwestern Sichuan province organized by disease control officials showed that 63 percent had tested positive for Covid and estimated infections peaked on Friday.
Only six Covid deaths have been officially reported since Beijing lifted most of its restrictions earlier this month.
But crematorium workers interviewed by AFP have reported an unusually high influx of bodies, while hospitals have said they are recording multiple deaths a day as emergency rooms fill up.
The main funeral service center in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou postponed all ceremonies until January 10 to focus on cremations due to “heavy workload,” according to a notice posted online on Sunday.
China’s censors and spokesmen have been working overtime to turn the decision to lift strict travel restrictions, quarantines and quick lockdowns into a victory, even as cases soar.
