What’s new: Beijing announced that starting Wednesday, all people arriving to the city from international destinations will be required to take a nucleic acid test for Covid-19, regardless of whether the Chinese capital is their final destination.
Furthermore, people entering China through other cities before proceeding on to Beijing will be required to undergo quarantines and nucleic acid tests for Covid-19 upon reaching the Chinese capital.
Background: The rules, announced on an official Beijing WeChat account (link in Chinese), formalize a policy aimed at containing the importation of Covid-19 cases from abroad.
With its own domestic outbreak now largely under control, China is worried about the potential for a second surge of cases brought by people arriving from other countries dealing with their own outbreaks.
Many of the people now returning to China are Chinese citizens living abroad, as well as foreigners who were living in China but left at the start of the outbreak, and now want to come back.
Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use. To read the full announcement in Chinese, click here.
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