Planning a trip to China? Here's what you need to know ahead of Jan 8 border reopening - CNA

China will soon ease its COVID-19 entry rules, after nearly three years of strict pandemic border restrictions.

On Monday (Dec 26), the country’s National Health Commission (NHC) announced that from Jan 8, 2023, COVID-19 will be downgraded from Class A - its top tier of infectious diseases - to Class B, a class that also includes HIV, viral hepatitis and H7N9 bird flu. This means that quarantine will no longer be enforced.

If you’re planning a trip to China, here’s what you need to know.

NEW ENTRY RULES

Under the new rules, which will take effect from Jan 8, travellers will no longer be subjected to quarantine requirements. However, they will need to take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test 48 hours pre-flight in order to enter the country.

Currently, all passengers arriving in China have to undergo mandatory centralised quarantine, a requirement that has been in place since March 2020.

However, the length of time has been progressively reduced, from three weeks originally to just five days at present.

It is the latest in a series of restrictions to be lifted as Beijing loosens its zero-COVID regime. Earlier this month, the Chinese government abruptly dropped mandatory testing and lockdowns.

It comes after nationwide protests last month, with the strict zero-COVID policy - now entering its fourth year - being blamed for upending ordinary life, travel and employment and dealing a harsh blow to the economy.

SHORTER LOCKDOWNS, HOME QUARANTINE

While China has since moved away from imposing sweeping lockdowns in whole neighbourhoods or cities, current guidelines stipulate that local authorities may still lock down buildings in the event that a positive case is detected.

However, snap lockdowns must be applied to more precisely identified areas, including specific buildings, units, and floors.

They must also be lifted if no new cases are found for five consecutive days.

In addition, the new guidelines also ban the blocking of fire exits and doors by officials, after 10 people died in a blaze in a sealed building in northwest China's Urumqi, sparking nationwide protests.

People infected with COVID-19 but with mild or no symptoms can now isolate at home rather than in state-managed facilities.

FEWER PCR TESTS, MASS TESTING

Many cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, have removed the negative test requirements to enter public spaces such as bars, restaurants, museums and other establishments. However, PCR tests are still required in high risk areas such as healthcare, educational, and certain other institutions.

Earlier this month, Beijing and Shenzhen also declared that negative COVID-19 test results will no longer be required to ride public transport.

Mass testing is also no longer conducted in areas that are not considered “high risk”, which refers to places that have positive cases.

Since Dec 7, those travelling between regions in China are no longer required to undergo PCR tests and health code checks.

FLIGHT OPTIONS

Restrictions on international flights, such as the "Five-One" policy - a rule under which an airline can keep only one flight per week to travel to and out of China - will also be lifted but in-flight mask wearing will still be required

From Dec 30, Singapore Airlines (SIA) will reinstate its passenger service to Beijing, operating fortnightly every other Friday.

This comes nearly three years after flight services between Singapore and Beijing were suspended on March 28, 2020.

Checks by CNA on Tuesday showed that the cost of an economy ticket from Singapore to Beijing this Friday with the return flight next Tuesday was around S$4,160.

According to SIA’s flight calendar, prices for economy flights between Singapore and Beijing show a slight drop after Jan 8.

A ticket for a round trip that leaves for Beijing on Jan 13 and returns to Singapore on Jan 17 costs around S$3,335.

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2022-12-27 06:23:00Z
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Malaysia transport minister Loke tells Batik Air to apologise, take responsibility for flight delay - CNA

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke has called on the management of low-cost airline Batik Air Malaysia to apologise to passengers after they were allegedly left stranded overnight at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Their flight to Kuching, Sarawak was delayed for about seven hours on Thursday (Dec 22) night.

Mr Loke was responding to a complaint by one of the affected passengers who had posted a video about his ordeal on Twitter.

Responding to Mr Firdaus Jailan on the social media site, Mr Loke said that he has since contacted the management of the airline, tagging @malindoair in his tweet. Batik Air Malaysia was previously known as Malindo Air until April this year.

“(The management) will reach out to all affected passengers to apologise and take responsibility (for the incident),” Mr Loke wrote on Monday night.

Mr Firdaus had taken to social media to air his grievances following the significant flight delay and had asked Mr Loke “to do something” about the airline operator.

Mr Firdaus alleged that the airline had treated its passengers “poorly” and had not prepared them for the situation, even after he had asked ground staff members if there were going to be multiple delays that evening.

“The flight was supposed to depart at 11.30pm. When I arrived at (the check-in counter), the staff member informed me the flight would be delayed to 2am. When they told me that … they reassured me that that was going to be the only delay,” Mr Firdaus said.

He then alleged that the flight was rescheduled to 6.35am on the airport departure board, with no indication that it was the previously delayed service.

“There’s not one staff member that can be seen here,” Mr Firdaus said as he pans his camera to show passengers sleeping on the benches near the departure gate.

As of Tuesday, Mr Firdaus’ video has received more than one million views on Twitter and more than 1,300 likes.

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2022-12-27 06:12:00Z
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Chinese make travel plans as COVID-19 rules ease further - CNA

NEAR-TERM PAIN

While the world's second-largest economy is expected to see a sharp rebound later next year, once the initial shockwave of infections fades, it is in for a rough ride in the coming weeks and months as workers increasingly fall ill.

Many shops in Shanghai, Beijing and elsewhere have been forced to close in recent days with staff unable to come to work, while some factories have already sent many of their workers on leave for the late January Chinese New Year holidays.

"The concern of a temporary supply chain distortion remains as the labour force is impacted by infections," JPMorgan analysts said in a note, adding that their tracking of subway traffic in 29 Chinese cities showed that many people were restricting their movements as the virus spreads.

Data on Tuesday showed industrial profits fell 3.6 per cent in January to November from a year earlier, versus a 3.0 per cent drop for January-October, reflecting the toll of the anti-virus curbs in place last month, including in major manufacturing regions.

The lifting of travel restrictions is positive for the US$17 trillion economy, but strong caveats apply.

"International travel ... will likely surge, yet it may take many more months before volumes return to the pre-pandemic level," said Dan Wang, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank China.

"COVID is still spreading in most parts of China, greatly disrupting the normal work schedule. Loss in productivity is significant and inflationary pressures in the coming months could be acute as the sudden spike in demand will outpace the recovery in supply."

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2022-12-27 04:19:00Z
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'Blizzard of the century' leaves nearly 50 dead across US - The Straits Times

NEW YORK - Emergency crews in New York were scrambling on Monday to rescue marooned residents from what authorities called the “blizzard of the century”, a relentless storm that has left at least 28 dead in the state and is causing US Christmas travel chaos.

Blizzard conditions continue to prevail in parts of the US north-east, the stubborn remnants of a massive sprawl of extreme weather that gripped the country over several days, causing widespread power outages, travel delays and at least 47 deaths across nine states.

In New York state, authorities have described ferocious conditions, particularly in Buffalo, with hours-long whiteouts, bodies being discovered in vehicles and under snow banks, and emergency personnel going “car to car” searching for more motorists – alive or dead.

The perfect storm of fierce snow squalls, howling wind and sub-zero temperatures forced the cancellation of more than 15,000 US flights in recent days, including at least 2,600 on Monday, according to tracking site Flightaware.com.

Buffalo – a city in Erie County that is no stranger to foul winter weather – is the epicentre of the crisis, buried under staggering amounts of snow.

“Certainly it is the blizzard of the century,” Governor Kathy Hochul told reporters, adding it was “way too early to say this is at its completion.”

Ms Hochul said some western New York towns got walloped with “30 to 40 inches (0.75 to 1 metre) of snow overnight.”

Later Monday, Ms Hochul spoke with President Joe Biden, who offered “the full force of the federal government” to support New York state, and said he and First Lady Jill Biden were praying for those who lost loved ones in the storm, according to a White House statement.

The National Weather Service forecast up to 14 more inches on Monday in addition to the several feet that have already left the city buried in snow, with officials struggling to get emergency services back online.

Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz told a press briefing he was “heartbroken” to report the blizzard-related death toll had climbed to 25 county-wide.

Mr Poloncarz said Erie’s death toll will likely surpass that of Buffalo’s infamous blizzard of 1977, when nearly 30 people died.

“We do expect that there will be more” deaths from the ongoing storm, he added.

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2022-12-26 22:48:13Z
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China to scrap COVID-19 quarantine for overseas arrivals from Jan 8 - CNA

BEIJING: China will scrap quarantine measures for overseas arrivals starting Jan 8, health authorities announced Monday (Dec 27), after nearly three years of strict pandemic border restrictions.

The National Health Commission (NHC) announced the downgraded containment measures for COVID-19 in an online notice, adding that travellers would only need a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test taken 48 hours pre-flight to enter China.

The announcement is the latest move by Beijing to loosen its zero-COVID regime, after it abruptly dropped mandatory testing and lockdowns earlier this month.

"According to the national health quarantine law, infectious disease quarantine measures will no longer be taken against inbound travellers and goods," the National Health Commission said.

"People must take a PCR test in the 48 hours before arriving in China," the notice said, adding that restrictions limiting the number of international flights will also be abolished.

The measures will take effect from Jan 8, when COVID-19 will be downgraded from the top tier of infectious diseases, Class A, to a second tier Class B, the NHC said in a separate notice Monday.

Unlike most of the rest of the world where people have transitioned to living with the pandemic, China had until recently maintained harsh restrictions and largely sealed itself off.

Since March 2020, all passengers arriving in the country had to undergo at least two weeks of mandatory centralised quarantine, later increased to three weeks.

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2022-12-26 15:34:00Z
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'The ICU is full': Medical staff on frontline of China's COVID-19 fight say hospitals are overwhelmed - CNA

In the past month, Bernstein went from never having treated a COVID-19 patient to seeing dozens a day.

"The biggest challenge, honestly, is I think we were just unprepared for this," he said.

Sonia Jutard-Bourreau, 48, chief medical officer at the private Raffles Hospital in Beijing, said patient numbers are five to six times their normal levels, and patients' average age has shot up by about 40 years to over 70 in the space of a week.

"It's always the same profile," she said. "That is most of the patients have not been vaccinated."

The patients and their relatives visit Raffles because local hospitals are "overwhelmed", she said, and because they wish to buy Paxlovid, the Pfizer-made COVID-19 treatment, which many places, including Raffles, are running low on.

"They want the medicine like a replacement of the vaccine, but the medicine does not replace the vaccine," Jutard-Bourreau said, adding that there are strict criteria for when her team can prescribe it.

Jutard-Bourreau, who like Bernstein has been working in China for around a decade, fears that the worst of this wave in Beijing has not arrived yet.

Elsewhere in China, medical staff told Reuters that resources are already stretched to the breaking point in some cases, as COVID-19 and sickness levels amongst staff have been particularly high.

One nurse based in the western city of Xian said 45 of 51 nurses in her department and all staff in the emergency department have caught the virus in recent weeks.

"There are so many positive cases among my colleagues," said the 22-year-old nurse, surnamed Wang. "Almost all the doctors are down with it."

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2022-12-26 08:42:25Z
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Savage US blizzard leaves 31 dead, causes power outages, travel snarls - The Straits Times

NEW YORK - A relentless winter storm brought Christmas Day danger and misery to millions of Americans Sunday as intense snow and frigid cold gripped parts of the eastern United States, with weather-related deaths rising to at least 31.

“It is (like) going to a warzone, and the vehicles along the sides of the roads are shocking,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a native of Buffalo, where 2.4m snow drifts and power outages have made for life-threatening conditions.

Mrs Hochul told reporters on Sunday evening that residents were still in the throes of a “very dangerous life-threatening situation” and warned anyone in the area to remain indoors.

A crisis situation was unfolding in Buffalo, in western New York, where a blizzard has left the city marooned, with emergency services unable to reach high impact areas.

More than 200,000 people across several eastern states woke up without power on Christmas morning and many more had their holiday travel plans upended, although the five-day-long storm featuring blizzard conditions and ferocious winds showed signs of easing.

The extreme weather sent wind chill temperatures in all 48 contiguous US states below freezing over the weekend, stranded holiday travellers with thousands of flights canceled and trapped residents in ice- and snow-encrusted homes.

At least 31 weather-related deaths have been confirmed across eight states, with some US media reporting as many as 30 storm-linked fatalities in total, including four in Colorado who likely died of exposure and at least 12 in New York state with officials warning the number would likely rise.

While large swathes of the country have begun shovelling out from the massive storm and temperatures in some locations were returning to seasonal normality, Buffalo remained in the grips of “a major disaster”, a senior official said Sunday.

Officials described historically dangerous conditions in the snow-prone Buffalo region, with hours-long whiteouts and bodies discovered in vehicles and under snow banks as emergency workers struggled to search for those in need of rescue.

The city’s international airport remains closed until Tuesday and a driving ban remained in effect for all of Erie County, where the lake-side metropolis is located.

“We now have what’ll be talked about not just today but for generations (as) the blizzard of ‘22,” Mrs Hochul said, adding that the brutality had surpassed the region’s prior landmark snowstorm of 1977 in “intensity, the longevity, the ferocity of the winds”.

Due to frozen electric substations, some residents were not expected to regain power until Tuesday, with one frozen substation reportedly buried under 18 feet of snow, a senior county official said.

Governor Hochul deployed some 200 National Guard members to help with rescues in and around Buffalo.

“It is extreme, it is dangerous and deadly,” she told CNN, noting that even National Guard units were getting trapped and requiring rescue.

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2022-12-25 19:30:08Z
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