China’s change in Covid policy doesn’t compel students in US to return for holiday
- Expensive airfare, concern over rampant infections in China, school schedules and concerns over US visas are preventing the rush home
- ‘I feel that the domestic epidemic situation in China is still unstable and I need to wait and see how it develops,’ says Chinese student in New York
Though China has announced it will abandon quarantine for incoming travellers starting on January 8, there will not be a stampede of US-based Chinese students returning home for Lunar New Year or in the spring.
A mix of factors including high airfare, concern over rampant infections in China, school schedules and even concerns over US visas are preventing the rush home. Eager to put years of pandemic separation behind them, many students say a return later in the year makes more sense.
“Many people think that even if they go back home now, they couldn’t really go out because they live with their family who is older and more concerned about Covid,” said Viola, a Chinese graduate student at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.
“There really is no rush now. The most important factor is probably that many people could easily come back this summer without quarantine when the first waves of infection are over.”
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China to fully reopen borders and shelve mandatory quarantine from January 8
School breaks in North America generally do not coincide with Lunar New Year, though Viola said that because the holiday falls a bit earlier than usual – from January 22 to February 5 – some people may have been willing to miss school, if other factors could fall into place.