[Updated 2022.11] After China rolled out the new 20 COVID measures, the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. also issued corresponding guidance for travelers flying from the U.S. to China. In short, just follow the required steps and process. The rules are definitely much more relaxed than before.
Summary below:
- Passengers taking direct flights to China departing from the U.S. must complete 1 nucleic acid test within 48 hours before boarding, and use the negative result from that test to apply for a health code.
- Nucleic acid test results issued by lawful testing institutions in the United States are acceptable. The testing institution should have CLIA certification (CLIA certification can be verified at https://www.cdc.gov/clia/LabSearch.html).
- The test report should include specific information such as the passenger's full name, date of birth, sample collection time (time of collection), report issuance time, and the testing institution's contact information.
- Applying for a health code: Required materials are: 1. negative nucleic acid test report; 2. ticket or itinerary for the flight to China; 3. the bio page of a valid passport or travel document. Foreign citizens must also hold a valid visa or residence permit for China.
- Application channel: Chinese citizens (including holders of Chinese passports, travel documents, Home Return Permits, and Taiwan Compatriot Permits) should apply through the WeChat mini program “防疫健康码国际版” or by scanning the QR code below;
- Transit passengers departing from the U.S. and connecting in a third country/region, or passengers departing from a third country/region and connecting in the U.S. on the way to China, may complete the required nucleic acid test and health code application either at the point of origin or at the transit location, based on their itinerary. Transit passengers only need to make sure that their health code is still valid when boarding at the final transit point (that is, when boarding the flight to China).
- The additional health code application requirements for people with a prior infection history, close contacts, suspected symptoms, inconclusive test results, etc. have been canceled.
Summary
Today, China announced new COVID prevention and control measures, and overall there is indeed some loosening. For most readers, the four main points are below:
- (7) The circuit-breaker policy for inbound flights has been canceled, and the requirement of 2 negative nucleic acid test results within 48 hours before boarding has been changed to 1 negative nucleic acid test result within 48 hours before boarding.
- (8) For key inbound business travelers, sports delegations, and similar groups, they will be transferred point-to-point to quarantine-free closed-loop management areas (“closed-loop bubbles”) to conduct business, training, competitions, and other activities. During this period, code-based management will apply and they may not leave the management area. Chinese staff entering the management area must complete a COVID vaccine booster beforehand, and after their work is completed, corresponding quarantine management or health monitoring measures will be taken based on risk level.
- (9) The standard for determining a positive result for inbound travelers is clearly defined as a nucleic acid test Ct value <35. For people whose nucleic acid test Ct value is 35–40 when being released from centralized quarantine, a risk assessment will be conducted. If it is determined to be a prior infection, then during home quarantine they will be subject to “two tests in three days,” code-based management, and may not go out.
- (10) For inbound travelers, the requirement of “7 days of centralized quarantine + 3 days of home health monitoring” has been changed to “5 days of centralized quarantine + 3 days of home quarantine,” with code-based management during this period and no going out allowed. After inbound travelers complete quarantine at the first point of entry, the destination may not impose repeat quarantine. During centralized medical observation, 1 nucleic acid test will be conducted on days 1, 2, 3, and 5, and during home quarantine medical observation, 1 nucleic acid test will be conducted on days 1 and 3.
With the circuit-breaker policy gone, airfare back to China should drop significantly, so it may be worth waiting to see how ticket prices move. Post-arrival quarantine is now 5+3; 5 days in centralized quarantine is still somewhat bearable, and the updated handling rules for quarantine have now been made clear.
Original Source Links
Full Text Below
To the joint prevention and control mechanisms (leading groups and command headquarters) for the COVID-19 epidemic of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and all member units of the State Council’s joint prevention and control mechanism for COVID-19:
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China has adhered to putting people and life first, persisted in preventing imported cases and domestic rebound, and remained committed to dynamic zero-COVID. It has optimized and improved prevention and control measures based on the evolving situation, actively responded to the impact of multiple global waves of the pandemic, protected people’s lives and health to the greatest extent possible, and achieved major positive results in coordinating epidemic control with economic and social development. On November 10, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting to hear a report on COVID-19 prevention and control work and to study and deploy 20 measures for further optimizing prevention and control work. In order to implement the spirit of the Standing Committee meeting, and to ensure effective epidemic control and implementation of the optimized adjustment measures, the following notice is hereby issued regarding relevant work:
I. Raise political standing and carry out COVID-19 prevention and control work in a scientific and precise manner
At present, the coronavirus continues to mutate, the global pandemic remains ongoing, and new domestic outbreaks continue to appear. China is a populous country, with a large number of vulnerable people, uneven regional development, insufficient total medical resources, and outbreaks in some areas still at a certain scale. Affected by virus mutations and winter-spring climate factors, the scope and scale of transmission may further expand, and the prevention and control situation remains severe and complex. Strategic resolve must be maintained, and all prevention and control work must be carried out scientifically and precisely. It is necessary to adapt to the virus’s rapid transmission characteristics, fight speed with speed, adopt more resolute and decisive measures, curb the spread of the epidemic as soon as possible, and concentrate efforts on extinguishing outbreaks in key areas. All regions and departments must resolutely unify their thinking and actions with the decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee, fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement those decisions and deployments, unswervingly uphold putting people and life first, unswervingly implement the general strategy of preventing imported cases and domestic rebound, and unswervingly implement the general policy of dynamic zero-COVID. In accordance with the requirements that the epidemic must be controlled, the economy must be stabilized, and development must be safe, they must efficiently coordinate epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development. It is necessary to further raise political standing and fully recognize that optimizing and adjusting prevention and control measures does not mean relaxing prevention and control, still less opening up or “lying flat,” but rather adapting to the new situation in epidemic prevention and control and the new characteristics of coronavirus mutations, adhering to established prevention and control strategies and policies, further improving the scientific and precise nature of prevention and control, protecting people’s lives and health to the greatest extent possible, and minimizing the impact of the epidemic on economic and social development, so as to implement the spirit of the 20th Party Congress through concrete action.
II. Implement the Party Central Committee’s deployment and actively and prudently carry out the optimization and adjustment of prevention and control measures
The Party Central Committee has made important arrangements and put forward clear requirements regarding the 20 measures for further optimizing prevention and control work. All regions and departments must implement every optimized measure fully and without compromise. (1) For close contacts, the management measure of “7 days of centralized quarantine + 3 days of home health monitoring” is adjusted to “5 days of centralized quarantine + 3 days of home quarantine,” with code-based management during this period and no going out allowed. During centralized medical observation, 1 nucleic acid test will be conducted on days 1, 2, 3, and 5, and during home quarantine medical observation, 1 nucleic acid test will be conducted on days 1 and 3.
(2) Close contacts must be identified promptly and accurately, and the close contacts of close contacts will no longer be designated.
(3) For people spilling over from high-risk areas, “7 days of centralized quarantine” is adjusted to “7 days of home quarantine,” with code-based management during this period and no going out allowed. During home quarantine, 1 nucleic acid test will be conducted on days 1, 3, 5, and 7.
(4) Risk areas will be reduced from three categories—"high, medium, and low"—to two categories: "high" and "low," in order to minimize the number of people subject to restrictions to the greatest extent possible. In principle, the residences of infected individuals, as well as workplaces and activity areas they frequently visited and that carry a relatively high risk of transmission, will be designated as high-risk areas. High-risk areas should generally be defined by unit or building and must not be expanded arbitrarily. All other areas within the county, city, district, or banner where a high-risk area is located will be designated as low-risk areas. If no new infections are found in a high-risk area for 5 consecutive days, it will be downgraded to low-risk. High-risk areas that meet the conditions for lifting restrictions must be reopened promptly.
(5) For workers in high-risk positions who have completed closed-loop operations, the requirement will be changed from "7 days of centralized quarantine or 7 days of home quarantine" to "5 days of home health monitoring." During this period, they will be subject to code-based management, and one nucleic acid test will be conducted on Days 1, 3, and 5. They should not go out unless necessary; if they must go out, they may not go to crowded public places or take public transportation.
(6) Areas without outbreaks must strictly follow the scope set out in the Version 9 prevention and control plan when conducting nucleic acid testing for risk positions and key groups, and must not expand the testing scope. In general, mass testing should not be conducted for entire populations based on administrative regions, and should only be carried out when the source of infection and transmission chain are unclear, community spread has persisted for a relatively long time, or the outbreak situation remains unclear. Specific implementation measures will be formulated to standardize nucleic acid testing, reiterate and refine relevant requirements, and correct unscientific practices such as "two tests in one day" and "three tests in one day."
(7) The circuit-breaker mechanism for inbound flights will be canceled, and the requirement for 2 negative nucleic acid test results within 48 hours before boarding will be adjusted to 1 negative nucleic acid test result within 48 hours before boarding.
(8) Important inbound business personnel, sports delegations, and similar groups will be transported point-to-point to quarantine-free closed-loop management areas ("closed-loop bubbles") for business activities, training, competitions, and similar events. During this period, they will be subject to code-based management and may not leave the managed area. Chinese personnel entering the managed area must complete a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot before entry, and after completing their work, corresponding quarantine management or health monitoring measures will be adopted based on the level of risk.
(9) The standard for determining whether an inbound traveler is positive is clarified as a nucleic acid test Ct value of <35. Individuals whose nucleic acid test Ct value is 35–40 at the time centralized quarantine is lifted will undergo risk assessment. If they are determined to be previously infected cases, then during home quarantine they will be subject to "two tests in three days," code-based management, and a prohibition on going out.
(10) For inbound travelers, the requirement will be changed from "7 days of centralized quarantine + 3 days of home health monitoring" to "5 days of centralized quarantine + 3 days of home quarantine." During this period, they will be subject to code-based management and may not go out. After inbound travelers complete quarantine at their first point of entry, their destination may not impose repeat quarantine. During centralized quarantine medical observation, one nucleic acid test will be conducted on Days 1, 2, 3, and 5; during home quarantine medical observation, one nucleic acid test will be conducted on Days 1 and 3.
(11) Medical resource capacity will be strengthened. Plans will be formulated for tiered and categorized diagnosis and treatment, admission standards for infected individuals with different levels of clinical severity, and response protocols for outbreaks in medical institutions and infections among healthcare workers, alongside comprehensive training for medical staff. Preparations for hospital beds and intensive care beds will be improved, and treatment resources will be expanded.
(12) COVID-19 vaccination will be advanced in an orderly manner. A plan will be formulated to accelerate vaccination progress and raise booster coverage as quickly as possible, especially booster coverage among the elderly. Research and development of monovalent or multivalent vaccines with broad protective effects will also be accelerated, with approvals advanced in accordance with laws and regulations.
(13) Stockpiling of COVID-19 treatment-related medications will be accelerated. Supply reserves should be strengthened to meet patient medication needs, especially for high-risk severe cases and elderly patients. Full attention should be given to the unique advantages of traditional Chinese medicine, and effective TCM formulas and medicines should be appropriately stocked. Reserves of emergency medicines and medical equipment should also be strengthened.
(14) Protection for key institutions and key groups will be strengthened. Authorities should identify the baseline situation for groups including the elderly, people with underlying conditions, pregnant women, and hemodialysis patients, and formulate health and safety protection plans. Management of concentrated settings for vulnerable populations, such as nursing homes, psychiatric specialty hospitals, and welfare institutions, should be optimized.
(15) The "Four Early" requirements must be implemented to reduce the scale of outbreaks and shorten response times. All localities should further improve multi-channel outbreak monitoring and early warning systems, as well as multi-trigger mechanisms, and provide "landing tests" for people traveling across provincial lines. Once infected individuals are discovered, reports must be made promptly in accordance with the law, and epidemiological investigations and risk-personnel controls must be carried out immediately. Authorities must strictly achieve early detection, early reporting, early quarantine, and early treatment, avoiding expansion of the response front and prolonged handling time. Waiting, watching, and acting independently are unacceptable.
(16) Efforts to address blunt, one-size-fits-all measures and layer-upon-layer policy escalation will be intensified. Local Party committees and governments must fulfill their territorial responsibilities and strictly implement the country's unified prevention and control policies. Arbitrary school closures and class suspensions, work stoppages and production shutdowns, unauthorized traffic disruptions, arbitrary "silent" management, arbitrary lockdowns, prolonged failure to lift restrictions, and arbitrary suspension of medical services, along with other forms of excessive escalation, are strictly prohibited. Public notification and exposure of such practices will be increased, and those causing serious consequences will be held strictly accountable in accordance with laws and regulations. Special task forces at all levels responsible for rectifying layer-upon-layer escalation should play their role in efficiently collecting and transferring complaint leads and urging local authorities to complete corrections promptly. The National Health Commission, the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Transport, and other relevant industry regulators should strengthen supervision and guidance for their sectors, increase exposure of typical cases, and create an effective deterrent.
(17) Service and support for people under lockdown or quarantine will be strengthened. Localities should establish special teams for daily necessities support, promptly formulate and improve contingency plans for essential goods market supply, delivery to locked-down residential compounds, and coordinated regional supply support, and ensure reserves of important daily living goods. They should comprehensively assess baseline information on permanent community residents, identify the circumstances of key groups such as elderly people living alone, children in difficult circumstances, pregnant women, and patients with underlying illnesses, and establish lists of key individuals and lists of needs during outbreaks. Last-mile delivery in locked-down areas should be optimized, dedicated forces for essential goods distribution should be designated, and fixed receiving points should be set up within residential compounds to break through the "last meter" of delivery. Communities should be guided to establish direct hotlines with medical institutions and pharmacies; residential compounds should be equipped with dedicated vehicles; service coordination should be improved; and the first-diagnosis responsibility system and emergency and critical care rescue system must be strictly implemented. No patient may be refused or deflected for any reason, and residents' needs for treatment and medications must be protected. Psychological counseling for people under lockdown or quarantine should also be provided, and greater care and assistance should be given to special groups such as the elderly, the weak, the sick, and people with disabilities, in order to resolve the public's practical difficulties.
(18) Campus COVID prevention and control measures will be optimized. Coordination mechanisms between schools and local governments should be improved, and joint prevention and control should strengthen support for emergency response on campuses, with priority given to transport and quarantine, nucleic acid testing, epidemiological tracing, environmental disinfection, and daily necessities support. This will improve schools' emergency response capacity and support them in controlling outbreaks quickly. Local authorities and schools must strictly implement national and education-sector prevention and control measures, firmly carry out the requirement for science-based and precise prevention and control, and must not escalate controls. The Ministry of Education, together with provincial and prefecture-level education departments, should take the lead in establishing special task forces to investigate, one by one, prominent problems on campuses such as arbitrary lockdowns, excessively long lockdown periods, prolonged suspension of in-person teaching, inadequate living support, and inconsistent control requirements for teachers, students, staff, and their family members, and should supervise corrective action while addressing both weak prevention efforts and excessive epidemic controls. Education departments at all levels should establish complaint platforms and hotline numbers, promptly accept, transfer, and respond to complaints, establish a mechanism for "immediate handling upon complaint," improve rapid-response and feedback mechanisms for resolving problems, and promptly help solve urgent and difficult problems faced by teachers and students.
(19) Prevention and control measures for enterprises and industrial parks must be implemented. Joint prevention and control mechanisms in all localities should establish special task forces to identify the baseline situation of enterprises and industrial parks within their jurisdictions, including private enterprises, and formulate outbreak prevention and control response plans on a "one enterprise, one policy" and "one park, one policy" basis. Enterprises and industrial parks must fulfill their primary responsibility for prevention and control, establish a full-staff responsibility system covering epidemic prevention from company and park management to workshop teams and frontline workers, and refine prevention and control records across every link and the full process. Personnel returning to work must undergo strict review of outbreak-related risk and may return only after their health status is confirmed. Support for daily living, prevention measures, and backup staffing/rotational staffing for employees in critical positions and key processes should be strengthened, management measures for third-party outsourced personnel should be improved, and access by people from the broader community should be strictly controlled. During outbreaks, logistics flows must be fully protected, and key enterprises affecting the overall industrial chain and the supply of essential goods for people's livelihoods must not be arbitrarily ordered to suspend work or halt production. The "white list" system must be properly implemented.
(20) Carry out the orderly return of stranded people by category. Places with outbreaks should promptly and precisely designate risk areas. For out-of-town individuals who are not in high-risk areas, they should be allowed to leave after a risk assessment, so as to avoid people being stranded, and they should take proper protective measures during the return trip. Places where relatively large numbers of people are stranded should formulate dedicated plans for their return. Places of departure and destination should strengthen information-sharing and coordination and make prudent arrangements on the premise of effectively preventing the spread of the epidemic to other areas. Transportation, civil aviation, China State Railway, and other relevant entities should actively provide transportation capacity support. Destination areas should take the broader situation into account and must not refuse to accept the return of stranded people. They should also implement the required prevention and control measures for returnees, both to avoid outward spread of the epidemic and to avoid escalating controls beyond what is required.
III. Strengthen risk prevention and ensure that all measures for addressing potential risks are fully implemented
All localities and departments should adhere to bottom-line thinking, focus on problem-oriented approaches, ensure orderly coordination in implementing the optimized adjustment measures, grasp the key links, and properly prevent and respond to related risks so as to ensure that overall epidemic risk remains under control.
(1) On the management of at-risk individuals. All localities should strictly manage centralized quarantine sites to avoid cross-infection at such sites. Individuals who meet the conditions for home isolation should be instructed to strictly comply with the relevant requirements during home isolation. If a positive result is detected, authorities should assess transmission risk and track and manage related at-risk individuals to prevent outward spread of the epidemic; those who do not meet the conditions for home isolation should still undergo centralized quarantine. Closed-loop management and personal protection for workers in high-risk positions should be strengthened during work periods to avoid infection on the job. Workers in high-risk positions should also be instructed to strictly comply with the relevant requirements during home health monitoring. If a positive result is detected, transmission risk should be assessed immediately and related at-risk individuals should be tracked and managed to prevent outward spread of the epidemic.
(2) On the designation of risk areas. After an outbreak occurs, all localities should promptly designate high-risk areas and publicly announce them. In general, high-risk areas should be designated by unit or building. Where the risk of transmission is unclear or widespread community transmission exists, the scope of high-risk area designation may be appropriately expanded.
(3) On adjustments to measures for preventing imported cases. All localities should maintain reserves of centralized quarantine resources, standardize the setup of centralized quarantine sites, and strictly implement their management. Standardized management of inbound travelers during home isolation should be strengthened. For foreign and Chinese personnel inside quarantine-exempt closed-loop management areas (the “closed-loop bubble”), strict closed-loop management, personal protection, nucleic acid testing, and other requirements must be implemented to prevent any “break in the loop.” Inbound travelers with nucleic acid test Ct values of 35—40 should undergo further screening, with another nucleic acid test completed 24 hours later. If the nucleic acid test Ct value is <35, they should be immediately transferred to a designated hospital or a Fangcang shelter hospital for isolation and treatment; if the nucleic acid test Ct value is ≥35, this is generally considered a prior infection, and during home isolation they will be subject to “two tests in three days,” code-based management, and a prohibition on going out.
IV. Strengthen organizational support for the optimized adjustment work
To properly implement the optimized and adjusted prevention and control measures, emphasis should be placed on policy interpretation, training and guidance, and accountability, so as to further build consensus across society, avoid and eliminate misunderstandings about these optimized adjustments, strengthen leadership, reinforce responsibility, and resolutely hold the line against large-scale outbreaks.
(1) Strengthen public communication and policy interpretation. Interpretation of the optimized adjustment policies should be strengthened, emphasizing continued adherence to our country’s overall epidemic prevention and control strategy and general policy. Society as a whole should be guided to fully understand the importance of putting the people and human life first, preventing imported cases and domestic resurgence, and adhering to dynamic zero-COVID. It should also fully understand that the further optimization of prevention and control measures is intended to make epidemic control more scientific and precise, and must not be misread as relaxing epidemic control or even as reopening or “lying flat.” The public should be guided to objectively understand that the optimization and adjustment of our country’s prevention and control policies are based on the characteristics of virus mutations and are not only scientific but also necessary, so as to win the understanding and support of the broad public and frontline grassroots workers and strengthen the foundation for mass prevention and mass control. Public opinion monitoring should be strengthened, and public concerns should be addressed in a timely manner.
(2) Strengthen work guidance and training at all levels. The competent authorities for each industry should earnestly assume responsibility, strengthen guidance for the optimized adjustment work in their respective industries and fields, improve supporting policies, and urge the implementation of all measures. All localities should accurately grasp the essence of the policies, make comprehensive arrangements, refine specific work requirements, and conduct in-depth training for epidemic prevention and control personnel at all levels. Through organized training, they should promote improved working capacity and standards among local Party committees and governments at all levels, joint prevention and control mechanisms at all levels, and frontline grassroots prevention and control personnel.
(3) Strengthen organizational leadership and accountability. Local Party committees and governments at all levels should fulfill their responsibilities in protecting their own jurisdictions, with principal responsible officials taking charge personally, clarifying the division of responsibilities, organizing implementation carefully in light of actual conditions, strengthening policy training, coordination of personnel and resources, and material support, and forcefully and orderly advancing the optimization and adjustment of prevention and control measures while fully carrying out all tasks without discount. It is necessary to fully recognize the complexity, difficulty, and recurrent nature of the fight against the epidemic, strengthen accountability, enhance the ability to handle challenges, go deep into the grassroots and frontline, and make all epidemic prevention and control work solid and meticulous. Every effort should be made to ensure services and support for the people’s production and daily life, effectively meet people’s basic living needs during epidemic response periods, guarantee basic public services such as medical treatment, strive to maintain normal production and living order, provide ideological guidance and psychological counseling, and resolutely win the tough battle of normalized epidemic prevention and control. Bottom-line thinking should be upheld and a problem-oriented approach emphasized. It is necessary both to oppose irresponsible attitudes and inadequate implementation that amplify prevention and control risks, and to oppose and overcome formalism and bureaucracy, resolutely correct simplistic approaches, “one-size-fits-all” practices, and layer upon layer of excessive measures, implement the optimized adjustment measures in a solid manner, efficiently coordinate epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development, and demonstrate with concrete action the effective results of studying and implementing the spirit of the 20th Party Congress.
Comprehensive Group of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council for Responding to the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Epidemic
(on behalf of the National Health Commission)
November 11, 2022