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Removal of a Covid-19 risk indicator in China’s digital travel pass has eliminated a major barrier to domestic travel. Photo: Xinhua

Coronavirus: China’s pandemic rule changes a nod to science on Omicron and economy, say experts

  • Changes based on Omicron’s shorter incubation period seen to promote a more targeted approach to pandemic control
  • It is not a shift from zero-Covid, health officials and public health experts caution
The recent relaxation of Covid-19 rules by China will help the country contain the pandemic in a more pragmatic way, health experts said.
This came as the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced an end to the Covid-19 risk indicator in its digital travel pass, removing a major barrier to domestic travel. The asterisk risk symbol would no longer appear in the travel pass of anyone who had travelled recently to cities with Covid-19 cases, the ministry said.
A day before, the national health authority had halved the quarantine period for inbound overseas travellers and close contacts of Covid-19 positive cases.

02:01

Students in Beijing return to class as Covid-19 wanes in Chinese capital

Students in Beijing return to class as Covid-19 wanes in Chinese capital
New arrivals now only need to undergo seven days of centralised quarantine, followed by three days of home isolation. While this is still an outlier approach in a world that has mostly chosen to live with the coronavirus, it is a big step for China as it tries to rescue an economy faltering under a dynamic zero-Covid policy that often involves mass testing, citywide lockdowns and strict travel restrictions.

Lu Hongzhou, president of the Shenzhen No 3 People’s Hospital, an infectious diseases hospital and designated Covid-19 facility, said the changes were based on the scientific finding that the Omicron variant, the dominant strain in China, was mostly detected two to four days after exposure and could always be detected within seven days.

The new optimised quarantine rules had streamlined pandemic control measures and would help to free up social resources, he said.

“As a border city, Shenzhen faces a lot of pressure to prevent Covid-19 outbreaks. The new guidelines could guide the city’s Covid-19 response in a more precise and targeted manner,” said Lu.

BA.4 and BA.5: what we know about the new Omicron subvariants

But while the announcements have raised public hopes of more loosening of curbs, they do not signal a shift from China’s zero-tolerance response, health officials and public health experts cautioned.

Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said the measures represented neither an abandonment of the zero-Covid policy nor heightened risks of outbreaks. They are policy tweaks based on actual needs, he pointed out.

The asterisk mark on the “Big Data Itinerary Card” digital travel pass only showed the mobile phone user had been in a city with coronavirus cases within the previous 14 days. However, it did not necessarily pinpoint the location of those infections, and did not relate to the holder’s actual health status either, Wu noted.

01:45

New Covid-19 subvariants can reinfect Omicron-recovered patients, early studies find

New Covid-19 subvariants can reinfect Omicron-recovered patients, early studies find

“It had played its role of putting as many people with infection risk as possible on the radar, especially in times when the epidemic situation was severe, but its use was limited,” Wu posted on his personal Weibo account on Thursday. “It can hardly play its role when the risk areas and management are required to be more precise and targeted.”

The abolition of the asterisk would help integrate epidemic control and prevention with economic and social development, and play an active role in promoting people movement, he added.

Wu also called on local governments still imposing blanket quarantine on people with the asterisk sign on their travel pass to stop the practice, because “it is wrong”.

China to press on with ‘zero Covid’, despite economic risks: Xi

This comes as China cracks down on local governments imposing excessive control measures, restricting people flow. Several central government agencies have formed a task force to oversee the matter, with the public encouraged to file complaints on the National Health Commission website.

Some local authorities had imposed quarantine on people who had visited cities with Covid-19 outbreaks such as Shanghai, and this should stop immediately, health commission official Cheng Youquan said.

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