Get Ready to Travel This May Day! Unless You've Been to Chaoyang

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For weeks, Beijing has exercised a no-tolerance policy to people entering and exiting the municipality: try to enter and you will be subjected to a mandatory 14-day quarantine upon your return. Now, some good news, as that area is expanding to include the entire Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and the Beijing Health Kit app will extend recognition of "healthy" status to people coming from those areas. The change will also make travel to these areas from Beijing easier, but policymakers clarified that while travelers must still pass through health checkpoints on the way in and out of municipal Beijing, they will not have to quarantine as long as they have stayed only in areas classified as low-risk for the past 14 days.The catch? Chaoyang District is currently classified as a high-risk area. While the classification does not have much of a concrete effect on day-to-day life in Chaoyang, it may throw a wrench in the Labor Day holiday plans of foreigners who live, work, and play in the district. Here’s why.

After the news of Chaoyang’s classification went viral, authorities clarified the reason for the classification: A high-risk area is defined as any area with over 50 total cases and at least one new case within the past 14 days. Chaoyang is currently the only area in the whole of China that meets these criteria, and given that the latest cases were added to Chaoyang’s tally on Apr 15, the best-case scenario is that the district will remain high-risk until Apr 29.

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This does not have consequences for people leaving Chaoyang to go to another part of municipal Beijing. However, it does mean that anyone who visits or resides in Chaoyang within the next two weeks will not be able to venture into Tianjin (pictured above) or Hebei during the Labor Day holiday without having to quarantine. Although both the European Chamber of Commerce and China.org.cn have published claims that the health apps should allow unrestricted entry for anyone who has not left the greater Beijing region within the past 14 days, a number of netizens have reported via Beijing Daily that detainment and quarantine are being enforced for those people who have recently been to Chaoyang. At least one Tianjin community also confirmed that people coming to Tianjin will have to quarantine if they have been to Chaoyang district. The nature of the quarantine has not yet been clarified.

If you have not been to and can avoid going to Chaoyang before May, then you should be clear to travel to Tianjin or Hebei and back for the holiday (but foreigners should make sure to confirm ahead of time whether your hotel is willing to take them and whether or not a nucleic acid test with a negative result is required). Otherwise, it is time to start planning your staycation.

Images: Air Asia

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