China will end travel quarantine on January 8, according to officials, marking the last big departure from the country’s zero-Covid policy.
After nearly three years of closed borders, the country will reopen to people with work and study permits, as well as those looking to visit relatives.
However, it comes as China struggles with the virus’s violent spread following the lifting of prohibitions.
According to reports, hospitals are overcrowded, and old people are dying.
Because officials have stopped sharing Covid data, the exact toll – daily case counts and deaths – is currently unknown.
Last week, Beijing recorded over 4,000 new Covid infections per day, with only a few deaths.
It said on Sunday that it will no longer publicize case numbers. According to Reuters, British health data firm Airfinity calculated that China had more than a million infections and 5,000 deaths every day.
After three years of lockdowns, closed borders, and obligatory quarantine for Covid cases and contacts, China is the world’s final major economy to adopt a “living with Covid” policy.
The so-called zero-Covid strategy wreaked havoc on the economy and made citizens tired of restrictions and repetitive tests.
Resentment of the program erupted in rare public rallies against President Xi Jinping in November, prompting officials to rescind the Covid laws just a few weeks later.
The last important constraint remains closed borders. Anyone entering China since March 2020 has been required to undergo mandatory quarantine at a governmental facility for up to three weeks at a time. That period has recently been decreased to five days.
However, the National Health Commission said on Monday that Covid would be officially reduced to a Class B infectious disease on January 8.
Quarantine would be eliminated, while incoming travelers would still be required to take a PCR test, and a daily limit on the number of planes allowed into China would be lifted.
Authorities also stated that they would “optimize” visa conditions for foreigners visiting China for employment and study, as well as family visits and reunions.
It’s unclear whether this includes tourist visas, but officials stated a test program for international cruise ships would begin.
Many Chinese people are relieved that they would be permitted to travel abroad again under the new restrictions. Within hours after the announcement, the leading online travel businesses in the country reported a surge in traffic.
But many have also expressed anger over the sudden freedom after years of controls.
“I’m happy about it but also speechless. If we’re doing this [reopening] anyway – why did I have to suffer all the daily Covid tests and lockdowns this year?” said Rachel Liu, who lives in Shanghai.
She said she had endured three months of lockdown in April, but nearly everyone in her family had become infected with the virus in recent weeks.
She said her parents, grandparents and partner – living across three different cities in Xi’an, Shanghai and Hangzhou – had all come down with fever last week.
Many have also expressed concern online about borders reopening as Covid cases peak in China.
“Why can’t we wait until this wave passes to open up? The medical workers are already worn out, and old people won’t survive two infections in one month,” read one top-liked comment on Weibo.
People in cities like Beijing and Shanghai, which experience chilly temperatures in the winter, say they’re running out of flu and cold medicine and scrounging for medical help for sick relatives. It’s feared that hundreds of deaths may be going unreported as crematoriums are overwhelmed.
On Monday, President Xi issued his first remarks on the changes, calling on officials to do what was “feasible” to save lives. State media quoted him saying the country faced a new situation with pandemic control, and needed a more targeted response.
China’s about-turn on how it manages the pandemic has put Mr Xi in a tough spot, analysts say. He was the driving force behind zero-Covid, which many blamed for restricting people’s lives excessively and crippling the economy.
But having abandoned it, analysts say he now has to take responsibility for the huge wave of infections and hospital admissions. Many have questioned why the country was not better prepared.
