Travel rush sparks Covid fears
China is seeking to minimise the possibility of a major new Covid19 outbreak during this month’s Lunar New Year travel rush, following the end of most pandemic containment measures.
The Transportation Ministry has called on travellers to reduce trips and gatherings, particularly if they involve elderly people, pregnant women, small children, and those with underlying conditions. People using public transport are also urged to wear masks.
The call stops short of asking citizens to stay home entirely, as the government had since the pandemic began, although some local governments have urged migrant workers not to return home.
Vice-Minister Xu Chengguang said authorities expected more than 2 billion trips to be made during the week-long festival season, the most important time for visiting family and friends in the traditional Chinese calendar. This was nearly double the number last year, and 70% more than during the same period in 2019 before the pandemic hit.
Demand for family visits and tourism had ‘‘accumulated over the past three years of the pandemic to be met all at once’’, Xu said.
China abruptly ended a strict
regime of lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing in December, amid growing concerns about the economic impact, and rare public protests in a country that permits no open political dissent.
From today, China is also ending mandatory quarantines for people arriving from abroad.
The current outbreak appears to have spread the fastest in densely populated cities, putting a strain on China’s health care system. Authorities are now concerned about a possible spread to smaller towns and rural areas that lack resources such as intensive care beds.
A growing number of other governments are requiring virus tests for travellers from China, saying they are needed because the Chinese Government is not sharing enough information about the outbreak, particularly about the potential emergence of new variants.
China has criticised the requirements, and has threatened to impose countermeasures against countries using them. Government spokespeople have said the situation is under control, and reject accusations of a lack of preparation for reopening.
Despite concerns, Hong Kong will reopen some of its border crossings with mainland China today and allow tens of thousands of people to cross every day without being quarantined. The city’s land and sea border checkpoints with the mainland have been largely closed for almost three years.