China relaxes some COVID test rules for US, other travellers

China relaxes some COVID test rules for US, other travellers

The slight relaxations were made in response to factors including the "characteristics of coronavirus variants", according to notices from Chinese embassies and consulates that did not provide further details.







Reuters









May 19, 2022 / 06:57 AM IST





(Image: AP)



China has removed some COVID-19 test requirements for people flying in countries such as the United States and shortened the pre-departure quarantine for some inbound travellers, as it fine-tunes its measures to cope with the Omicron variant.

The slight relaxations were made in response to factors including the "characteristics of coronavirus variants", according to notices from Chinese embassies and consulates that did not provide further details.

From Friday, travellers from Dallas, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago will no longer need an RT-PCR test seven days before flying, or any antibody test, according to notices issued late on Tuesday from the Chinese embassy in the United States and several consulates.

Those travellers will still need to do two RT-PCR tests within 48 or 24 hours of their flights - depending on which airport they are flying out of - plus another pre-flight antigen test, those notices showed.

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