China Requires COVID-19 Test For Domestic Travel During Chinese New Year's Holiday

Faizan Hashmi Published January 20, 2021 | 05:30 PM

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2021) All Chinese nationals planning to travel within the country to their hometowns during the upcoming Chinese New Year's holiday will have to provide evidence of negative COVID-19 test results prior to departure, a top Chinese public health official said on Wednesday.

"If [they] have to go home, those who plan to go home need to provide negative COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results taken within seven days of their departure," Wang Bin, an official from the Chinese National health Commission, said during a press conference.

Wang added that the travelers would be placed under constant surveillance by local governments upon their return.

The National Health Commission listed additional requirements for the domestic travelers upon their return to their hometowns in rural areas in China. According to a statement from the agency, those returnees would be required to self-isolate at home for 14 days upon arrival and would be asked to do a COVID-19 PCR test every seven days.

A resurgence of COVID-19 cases have been seen in a number of provinces in northern China in recent weeks, when hundreds of new infections were detected.

In response, local authorities stepped up their containment measures by placing dozens of residential districts under strict lockdown.

Several new temporary quarantine centers were built within days in Hebei province, where residents in five villages were ordered to leave their homes and be quarantined in centralized isolation facilities.

With the Chinese New Year holiday expected to begin in mid-February, the annual travel rush during the holiday period could increase the risks of wider COVID-19 transmission in the country. Chinese authorities have discouraged people from traveling during this period.

Nevertheless, an official from the transportation department said during the press conference on Wednesday that travelers are expected make 1.7 billion trips during the upcoming the Chinese New Year holiday.