Australia and Canada have joined the growing list of countries requesting travelers from China pass a COVID-19 test before boarding a flight, as the nation battles a coronavirus outbreak after abruptly easing restrictions that had been in place for most of the pandemic.
Australian health authorities said on Sunday that from January 5, all passengers arriving from mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau must present a negative COVID-19 test taken within two days of departure.
Canada announced similar measures, which will also take effect Jan. 5, in a statement dated Saturday.
The United States, Great Britain, India, Japan and several European Union countries have also imposed stricter measures against COVID-19 on Chinese travelers amid concerns over the lack of data on infections in the country and fears of its spread of new variants of the virus. .
China, which for most of the pandemic had been adopting a “zero COVID” strategy with tough restrictions to eradicate the virus, abruptly eased the protocol in December. Chinese authorities had previously announced that, effective January 8, travelers from overseas would no longer have to quarantine upon arrival in the country, paving the way for people to leave the country again.
Hong Kong is also preparing for the end of the rule and plans to resume border controls on Jan. 8, according to a post by land security chief Eric Chan on Facebook. Furthermore, the quota limiting the number of travelers between the two locations will be maintained.
In China, the easing of restrictions has allowed residents to celebrate the New Year in large gatherings banned during much of the pandemic, despite rising infections across much of the country.
“There’s still concern, more or less,” said Wu Yanxia, a 51-year-old Beijing resident who works at a logistics company. “I hope next year everything will be normal, like domestic travel.”
Others hope 2023 brings better things after a difficult year.
“We experienced a very uneven year, especially an unforgettable one, with many things we could not imagine,” said Li Feng, a professor in Beijing, adding that 2022 was a difficult year for both the people and the government.
“But I think we’ve moved on and everything will be fine,” she said. “We will all always be better both at work and in life.”
