Beijing To Change Quarantine Policy for Overseas Arrivals

By Alistair Baker-Brian, May 5, 2022

While Beijing continues to battle a domestic outbreak of COVID-19, a recent announcement has indicated that quarantine time for overseas arrivals will soon be reduced.

At the daily Press Conference on COVID-19 Epidemic Prevention and Control on Wednesday, May 4, it was announced that the Chinese capital would implement the ‘10 + 7’ policy – 10 days in centralized quarantine and seven days in home quarantine.

Beijing has followed the lead of Xiamen, which recently trialed the same policy.

As with Xiamen, Beijing’s new policy comes with a few caveats. Read below for the full details…

If your final destination is Beijing…

The ‘10 + 7’ policy applies to you assuming you already have a fixed address in Beijing and are eligible for home quarantine. If you are not eligible for home quarantine, you must do an extra four days in centralized quarantine (total 14 days).

If your final destination is elsewhere on the Chinese mainland…

If you fly into Beijing but your final destination is outside of the capital, you must spend an extra four days in centralized quarantine before leaving Beijing – a total of 14 days. You must then comply with relevant COVID rules in your final destination.

If you arrive elsewhere on the Chinese mainland from abroad…

You should only travel to Beijing 14 days after your arrival. Overseas arrivals who enter Beijing from elsewhere on the Chinese mainland before 14 days will be sent to centralized quarantine upon arrival in Beijing.

Beijing was one of the first cities on the Chinese mainland to toughen quarantine rules for overseas arrivals; some arrivals are required to spend up to 21 days in centralized quarantine.

China continues to implement its ‘dynamic zero-COVID’ policy which seeks to eliminate the spread of the virus rather than ‘live with it.’ However, some recent developments, including changes to quarantine policies, have suggested that the country is laying the groundwork to move away from the zero-COVID strategy.

COVID-19 experts Zhong Nanshan and Guang Weijie recently published an article in National Science Review entitled Strategies for Reopening in the Forthcoming COVID-19 Era in China. As well as rethinking quarantine periods, the article also cited herd immunity and at-home tests, as well as other strategies, as means of opening up.

[Cover image Weibo/@南方日报]