US to relax COVID testing rules for travelers from China
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is preparing to relax COVID-19 testing restrictions for travelers from China as soon as Friday, according to two people familiar with the decision.
The people, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the administration has decided to roll back the testing requirements as cases, hospitalizations and deaths are declining in China and the U.S. has gathered better information about the surge.
The restrictions were put in place on Dec. 28 and took effect on Jan. 5 amid a surge in infections in China after the nation sharply eased pandemic restrictions and as U.S. health officials expressed concerns that their Chinese counterparts were not being truthful to the world about the true number of infections and deaths.
At the time, U.S. officials also said the restriction was necessary to protect U.S. citizens and communities because there was a lack of transparency from the Chinese government about the size of the surge or the variants that were circulating within China.
As part of its response, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this year expanded genomic surveillance at several U.S. airports, collecting voluntary samples from passengers aboard hundreds of weekly flights from China, and the testing of wastewater aboard airplanes. The Traveler-based Genomic Surveillance Program will continue to monitor travelers from China and more than 30 other countries.
The decision to lift restrictions comes at a moment when U.S.China relations have been strained after Biden ordered a Chinese spy balloon shot down last month after it traversed the continental United States. The Biden administration has also publicized U.S. intelligence findings that raise concern Beijing is weighing providing Russia weaponry for its ongoing war on Ukraine.
Earlier Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang warned that Beijing and Washington were headed for "conflict and confrontation" if the U.S. doesn't change course.
Qin's comments came a day after President Xi Jinping in an unusually pointed speech said that "Western countries led by the United States have implemented all-round containment, encirclement and suppression of China."
White House officials sought to downplay the hot rhetoric from Beijing.
"There is no change to the United States' posture when it comes to this bilateral relationship," Kirby said. "The president believes those tensions obviously have to be recognized, but can be worked through.