China to Trial 10-Day Central Quarantine for Overseas Arrivals
By Alistair Baker-Brian
Amongst the doom and gloom of COVID-19, it’s always nice to report a smattering of positive news, the most recent of which relates to reduced quarantine time for some overseas arrivals to China.
The southern port city of Xiamen, Fujian province will allow some arrivals from overseas to quarantine for 10 days in a centralized facility before completing seven days of ‘health monitoring’ at home (‘10+7’), as reported by 观察者网.
The new ‘10+7’ policy will be trialed for four weeks.
At present, overseas arrivals to Xiamen must undergo 14 days of centralized quarantine followed by seven days of ‘health monitoring’ at home (‘14+7’).
That means time in centralized quarantine is reduced by four days – great news, right?
Well, the trial policy comes with a few caveats; this only applies to some overseas arrivals.
Read on for the full details...
If your final destination is Xiamen…
The ‘10+7’ policy applies to you – 10 days of centralized quarantine followed by seven days of ‘health monitoring’ at home.
If your final destination is elsewhere on the Chinese mainland…
The ‘14+7’ policy still applies to you, but there’s a small difference.
If you do not test positive for COVID-19 and are not considered a close contact within the first 10 days of centralized quarantine, you are free to leave your quarantine hotel room for the remaining four days.
However, you cannot leave the hotel premises during this time. Be sure to check with your hotel what the exact rules are before leaving your room.
You must then follow any other relevant rules for travelling to your final destination.
We could call this policy ‘14+7 lite.’
If COVID-19 is detected at the same centralized quarantine facility within the first 10 days…
You are considered a close contact which means the original ‘14+7’ policy still applies.
Since June 2020, Xiamen has been third on the Chinese mainland in terms of the number of inbound overseas flights. Shanghai has been at the top with Guangzhou in second place.
Some unconfirmed reports have suggested other cities may follow Xiamen’s lead in trialing the above policy.
For now, however, most overseas arrivals into China must still spend up to 21 days in a centralized quarantine facility followed by a period of ‘health monitoring’ at home.
[Cover image via Pixabay]
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