China will stop requiring inbound travellers to go into quarantine starting from next year, the National Health Commission said on Monday.
The move is a major step towards easing restrictions on its borders, which have been mainly shut since 2020.
China's management of Covid-19 will also be downgraded to the less strict Category B from the current top-level Category A, the health authority said, as the disease has become less virulent and will gradually evolve into a common respiratory infection.
Three years of zero tolerance, from closed borders to frequent lockdowns, have battered China's economy, leading to last month's biggest show of public discontent since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.
But China made an abrupt policy retreat this month, dropping nearly all of its domestic Covid curbs in a move that has left hospitals across the country trying to cope with a nationwide wave of infections.
Strict requirements on inbound travellers had remained in place, including five days of mandatory quarantine at a government-supervised centre and three more of isolation at home.
That restriction and one on the number of passengers on international flights will be removed from January 8.
But travellers entering China will still have to undergo PCR testing 48 hours before departure, the health authority said.
Arrangements for foreigners to travel to China, such as for work and business, will be improved and the necessary visas will also be enabled, the authority said.
But passenger entry and exit at sea and land ports will gradually resume, while the outbound travel of Chinese nationals will be restored "in an orderly manner", it said.
Since January 2020, China had classified Covid-19 as a Category B infectious disease but managed it under Category A protocols that also cover diseases such as bubonic plague and cholera, giving local authorities the power to put patients and their close contacts into quarantine and lock down regions.
While China downgrades its management of the coronavirus, the National Health Commission said epidemic prevention and control protocols at institutions such as elderly care centres will be strengthened.
If an outbreak becomes severe, the institution will adopt "closed management" to prevent the spread of infections, the authority said.
China will also further increase the vaccination rate among the elderly and promote second doses among people at high risk of severe illness.
China is the last major country to move towards treating Covid as endemic.
Its containment measures had slowed the $17 trillion economy to its lowest growth rate in nearly half a century, disrupting global supply and trade.
'Manmarziyaan' (Colour Yellow Productions, Phantom Films)
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal
Rating: 3.5/5
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If you go
The flights
Emirates (www.emirates.com) and Etihad (www.etihad.com) both fly direct to Bengaluru, with return fares from Dh 1240. From Bengaluru airport, Coorg is a five-hour drive by car.
The hotels
The Tamara (www.thetamara.com) is located inside a working coffee plantation and offers individual villas with sprawling views of the hills (tariff from Dh1,300, including taxes and breakfast).
When to go
Coorg is an all-year destination, with the peak season for travel extending from the cooler months between October and March.
Indoor Cricket World Cup
Venue Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE squad Saqib Nazir (captain), Aaqib Malik, Fahad Al Hashmi, Isuru Umesh, Nadir Hussain, Sachin Talwar, Nashwan Nasir, Prashath Kumara, Ramveer Rai, Sameer Nayyak, Umar Shah, Vikrant Shetty
Normcore explained
Something of a fashion anomaly, normcore is essentially a celebration of the unremarkable. The term was first popularised by an article in New York magazine in 2014 and has been dubbed “ugly”, “bland’ and "anti-style" by fashion writers. It’s hallmarks are comfort, a lack of pretentiousness and neutrality – it is a trend for those who would rather not stand out from the crowd. For the most part, the style is unisex, favouring loose silhouettes, thrift-shop threads, baseball caps and boyish trainers. It is important to note that normcore is not synonymous with cheapness or low quality; there are high-fashion brands, including Parisian label Vetements, that specialise in this style. Embraced by fashion-forward street-style stars around the globe, it’s uptake in the UAE has been relatively slow.
Ammar 808:
Maghreb United
Sofyann Ben Youssef
Glitterbeat
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
