bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Josephine Ma

Travellers flying to China from the US will no longer be required to provide three negative RT-PCR test results as of Friday.
The previous requirement of showing a negative RT-PCR test result from seven days before the flight has been scrapped, according to a notice posted by the Chinese mission in the United States on Tuesday.
Antibody test results will also no longer be needed.
Still required, however, will be two RT-PCR tests from two different laboratories, carried out within 48 hours and 24 hours before departure.
China to throw more resources at zero-Covid policy, health chief says
Also, the embassy will only issue green health QR codes – mandatory for entry to China – to passengers flying direct from Dallas, Detroit, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, the notice said.
A minimum 14 days of quarantine on arrival still stands.
Passengers are also required to produce a negative antigen test result done 12 hours before the flight at institutes designated by Chinese authorities.
The new regulations have streamlined the earlier requirements in place since mid-April, requiring three PCR tests in total, with the earliest taken seven days before the flight.
The Chinese embassy in Washington said the changes were made in response to the changing nature of the Covid-19 virus.


Most countries do not require antibody tests for entry, and some previous travellers to China had earlier cited vaccination-induced positive results.
The embassy notice said RT-PCR tests performed by two different institutes should exclude the possibility of false positive results.
While the old rules involved complicated test requirements for passengers who had received different numbers or types of vaccine, the new regimen standardises the procedure, with two negative PCR tests required whether the passenger is vaccinated or unvaccinated.
Only a handful of Chinese cities have been opened up to international travellers so far, as China wants to use these as a quarantine buffer zone before allowing them to travel to other parts of the country.

China is on high alert about imported cases as it painstakingly holds on to its “dynamic zero-Covid” policy.
Last month, an overseas passenger in quarantine was detected to be carrying the highly transmissible Omicron subvariant BA. 2.12.1, though authorities only made this public earlier this week.
Several cities including Shanghai and Beijing have recently battled spiralling outbreaks caused by the Omicron strain, and the increasing transmissibility of new subvariants means it would be even more difficult to curb all local transmission of the virus.
But health authorities have pledged to persist with their dynamic zero tolerance policy against Covid-19, by acting even quicker to quarantine and identify infections.
China’s zero-Covid strategy is “not sustainable”, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated at a media briefing on Tuesday, but added that every country must decide what policy to pursue.
Tedros first made the same comment on May 11, citing the high transmissibility of Omicron as well as better knowledge of the virus and better tools to fight it. This provoked a sharp response from Beijing, with the foreign ministry urging the WHO chief to avoid making “irresponsible” remarks.


Xi puts faith in Lee to deliver on Hong Kong economic development, reform

China’s dwindling Western expat workforce should be cause for concern

Biden commutes 1,500 sentences, pardons 39 people in biggest single-day act of clemency

US hotels welcome Indian tourist boom to ‘fill the gap’ from lower East Asian demand

Coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus: flying to China from the US will no longer involve 7-day RT-PCR or antibody tests

Only eligible passengers of direct flights from San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Dallas and Detroit will be issued with the green health QR code needed for entry to China. Photo: Xinhua

A WHO team probing Covid-19 origins arrives in the Chinese city of Wuhan in January 2021. Photo: AP 

Coronavirus: Indonesia relaxes mask mandates, scraps tests for travellers as it learns to ‘live with the virus’

Tourists walk at a beach in Bali, Indonesia. Indonesia will no longer require a negative pre-departure test for foreign and domestic travellers. Photo: EPA-EFE

People wear protective masks walk through a platform of a railway station during the pandemic, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Indonesia announced it will drop requirements for people to mask up outdoors. Photo: Reuters

China’s loans tumble as coronavirus lockdowns hold back credit growth

Chinese banks extended 645.4 billion yuan (US$95.3 billion) in new yuan loans in April, down sharply from March and falling short of analyst expectations, according to data released by the People’s Bank of China on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Chinese banks extended 645.4 billion yuan (US$95.3 billion) in new yuan loans in April, down sharply from March and falling short of analyst expectations, according to data released by the People’s Bank of China on Friday. Photo: Bloomberg

Coronavirus: Philippines lifts quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers from China, dozens of other nations

People shop outside a mall in Quezon city, Philippines. Photo: AP

A ferry makes its way across the harbour in Sydney on Thursday. Photo: AFP

News

China

Science

Coronavirus

Greater China

Health & Medicine

US & Canada


New rules for direct flights from five US cities set to take effect on Friday, Chinese mission says
Still required are two PCR test results from separate labs within 48 and 24 hours of departure, and a negative antigen report



As of Friday, US travellers to China need only show two PCR test results and a negative antigen report, Chinese mission says, citing changing nature of virus.


Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

Coronavirus China

US-China relations

World Health Organization (WHO)

Coronavirus: flying to China from the US will no longer involve 7-day RT-PCR or antibody tests

New rules for direct flights from five US cities set to take effect on Friday, Chinese mission says Still required are two PCR test results from separate labs within 48 and 24 hours of departure, and a negative antigen report

New rules for direct flights from five US cities set to take effect on Friday, Chinese mission says

Still required are two PCR test results from separate labs within 48 and 24 hours of departure, and a negative antigen report