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Beijing reported on December 28 that it will gradually resume international charter flights. The announcement comes a day after confirming the resumption of issuance of passports for tourism and the end of quarantines for travelers arriving in the country. Some measures that move away from strict controls in the face of Covid-19 outbreaks. However, the US is evaluating restrictions for travelers from the Asian giant due to the increase in infections.
Following its strict ‘Covid zero’ policy, China aims to resume normality related to international travel, measures that raise concern in other parts of the planet.
The Asian giant’s civil aviation authority reported on December 28 that it will fully restore pre-pandemic flight procedures and requirements for the 2023 summer and fall season.
In this regard, the Chinese authorities indicated that they will gradually resume the acceptance of requests for international charter routes, both from domestic and foreign airlines.
This Wednesday’s announcement comes after Beijing confirmed on Tuesday, December 27, that it will resume issuing passports for tourism and will end quarantines for travelers arriving in its territory, a decision that will take effect as of December 8. January 2023.
This is a drastic turn in its strict policy to keep virus outbreaks at bay and great steps in the elimination of measures that kept the country apart for almost three years, after the appearance of Covid-19 in late 2019 and early 2020. In March of that year, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic.
Bookings for trips abroad skyrocket
The measures that bring relief to millions of Chinese citizens, who have experienced some of the strongest measures in the world to control the virus, create a possible flood of people from that country who will travel abroad for the New Year festivities. Lunar, which begins on January 22 and is usually the busiest travel season in the country.
Thousands of tourists from China are expected to head mainly to destinations in other parts of Asia and Europe, but it also poses the risk that they could spread Covid-19 as infections increase in the Asian giant.
Travel service companies Trip.com and Qunar said international ticket bookings and searches for visa information on their websites increased five to eight times after Tuesday’s announcements. Major destinations include Japan, Thailand, South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
US and other countries weigh restrictions for travelers from China
What is interpreted as good news for Chinese travelers is viewed with concern on the other side of the world.
The Government of the United States indicated that it is considering the imposition of measures for people who come from the Asian nation, arguing that there is growing nervousness in the international community due to the increase in cases of Covid-19 in that territory.
Joe Biden Administration officials noted that there is a “lack of transparent data” from Beijing regarding the health emergency.
“There is growing concern in the international community about the ongoing Covid-19 surges in China and the lack of transparent data, including viral genomic sequence data, being reported from the People’s Republic of China,” they stressed from Washington.
The US government is concerned about COVID surges in China and a lack of transparency from the Chinese government, and as a result is considering imposing new restrictions on travelers coming to the US from China, according to US officials. https://t.co/pCfHvvDDwb
— ABC News (@ABC) December 28, 2022
This pronouncement took place after Japan, India and Malaysia announced stricter rules for travelers from China in the last 24 hours, also citing the increase in infections.
The Japanese authorities assured that they would require a negative test for the virus upon arrival in their nation. Malaysia and India will implement additional monitoring and surveillance measures.
The official numbers of deaths from Covid-19 drop, but the concern continues
Official statistics indicated that only one death related to the virus was registered in seven days counted until last Monday, December 26. Three deaths were reported on Tuesday.
However, the figures raise questions among health experts and residents. Experts point out that the numbers are inconsistent with the experience of much less populous countries after they reopened.
Also, this week some hospitals and funeral homes in China have been overwhelmed as the virus spreads across the country of 1.4 billion people, verified videos by The New York Times showed.
On December 27, Beijing announced that from next January the figures related to Covid-19 will be published only once a month.
Xi’s government argued that the health crisis would then be managed in Category B because the disease has become less viral and will gradually become a common respiratory infection.
The lifting of many of the restrictions occurs after a wave of unprecedented protests in the streets that claimed excessive measures and the violation of citizen liberties.
The trigger for the social outbreak was the fire in Xinjiang last November, when 10 people died after being trapped in their apartments, a fateful event attributed by protesters to the strong closure measures.
However, specialists point out that the social movement would have contributed to a greater spread of the disease, which today would once again have China as one of the nations with the highest number of infections.
With AP, Reuters and EFE
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