Travelers check in with Cathay Pacific on the Hong Kong International Airport on December 20, 2022.
Vernon Yuen | Nurphoto | Getty Images
BEIJING — Some countries announced latest Covid testing requirements for visitors from China after the mainland said it will finally calm down border controls.
Japan was the primary country to subsequently release rule changes, followed by the U.S. and others. Covid-19 infections surged this month in mainland China, but there is proscribed data available publicly.
Listed here are a few of the latest policy changes for travelers from China:
South Korea
Starting Jan. 2, all visitors to South Korea until the tip of the month will need to indicate a negative Covid test before boarding flights to the country, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Friday. He said travelers will even must test for Covid upon arrival in South Korea.
It was unclear what would occur to travelers who tested positive after arriving.
“The South Korean government feels the necessity to take motion as a way to prevent further domestic spread of Covid as we see a worsening situation going down in China because the nation eases its restrictions,” Han said in Korean, in line with a CNBC translation.
The country will only allow flights from China to land in Incheon and can temporarily halt plans to extend the variety of flights from China, Han said.
Japan
U.S.
Starting Jan. 5, all airline passengers 2 years and older originating from mainland China, Hong Kong or Macao can be required upon departure to the U.S. to indicate a negative Covid-19 test result from inside the last two days, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday.
The foundations apply to people of all nationalities and vaccination status.
Testing has decreased across China and it’s unclear what variants are circulating on the mainland because genomic surveillance data can be limited, a federal health official told reporters.
Taiwan
For the month of January, all travelers from mainland China via direct flight or boat might want to test for Covid-19 upon arrival in Taiwan, the local Centers for Disease Control said Wednesday.
Those that test positive can quarantine at home, the notice said.
The foundations don’t apply to flights from Hong Kong or Macao.
Italy
All travelers coming from China to Italy might want to get tested for Covid-19, even when just transiting, the European country’s health minister said Wednesday.
The minister said the country would also conduct virus sequencing, but didn’t say what would occur to travelers who tested positive.
Health authorities in regions near Milan and Rome said travelers who tested positive would should quarantine in designated buildings, Reuters reported.
Australia
Australia isn’t adding restrictions to visitors from China, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday, in line with an official transcript of his interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Albanese said Australia would monitor circumstances in China and other countries, in addition to take “appropriate advice” from health experts. “Our priority is to maintain Australians as secure as possible,” he said.
Omicron — more transmissible but causing less severe disease — became the dominant Covid variant globally during the last yr. Many of the world moved to a state of living with the virus months before China ended lots of its Covid controls this month.
Starting Jan. 8, inbound travelers to mainland China will not must quarantine upon arrival, Beijing announced Monday. Visitors would still need to indicate a negative for Covid-19 from inside the last 48 hours.
Chinese authorities also said they might improve visa processing for foreigners, while resuming Chinese residents’ passport applications for travel abroad, including for tourism. No exact timeframe was specified.
—CNBC’s Jihye Lee and Spencer Kimball contributed to this report.
