Beijing authorities have announced multiple new adjustments on COVID-19 prevention measures to further facilitate inbound travels to the city, including lifting restriction of residents from counties in border and port cities to enter and adjusting limits for travel from cities with confirmed cases, which have been hailed by analysts as a clear approach to implementing China's latest version of prevention and control protocols and setting an example on not simplifying prevention by restricting travelers.
People planning to travel to Beijing must have a green health code and a negative nucleic acid test obtained within 48 hours. Travelers are requested to submit to a nucleic acid test in 24 hours to 72 hours upon arrival. For commuters, the policy to check their nucleic acid test within 72 hours and green health code has not changed, Li Ang, deputy director from the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, told a press conference on Thursday.
To ensure the normal flow of travelers, Li outlined that, if a county reports one or more local cases, residents from other counties in the same city will no longer be banned from entering Beijing. Residents from counties in border and port cities will also not be restricted from entering the capital. People with a travel history to a county or a district which reported one or more cases in seven days remain strictly restricted from entering Beijing, down from the previous 14 days' record.
The national digital travel record has also shortened the travel history period from 14 days to seven days.
Moreover, the capital will also restore direct international commercial flights in phases in an orderly manner. Overseas travelers who entered China through ports in other cities can enter Beijing after "a 7-day centralized quarantine plus 3-day health monitoring at home" together with a negative nucleic acid test taken within 48 hours and a green health code.
