As the Chinese government has announced that it may start to ease the travel ban for some foreigners, Beijing has declared Chaoyang China’s only high-risk area and said any overseas arrivals must now quarantine for three weeks instead of two.

Source: Anthony Tran 

The news follows an incident in Beijing’s Shuangjing district in which a returnee who had completed 14 days of centralized quarantine and tested negative for COVID-19 fell ill after returning home. The returnee went on to infect three members of their household and forced 60 close contacts into quarantine. What’s more, all this resulted in Chaoyang being classified as China’s only remaining high-risk zone for coronavirus.

This, along with a growing number of similar cases from South Korea, has convinced the Beijing government that those infected with COVID-19 may remain asymptomatic and infectious for longer than 14 days. As a result, the deputy secretary-general of the Beijing Municipal Government announced this week that all new overseas returnees will now have to submit to an additional week of home observation after their 14 days of centralized or home quarantine.

While this will not currently affect most foreigners, as the vast majority are still banned from entering China, the government has said it is in talks with both South Korea and Singapore about opening up routes for business people and traders. Hopefully this is the start of a gradual easing of the restrictions for all foreigners looking to return to China.

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Keywords: Beijing quarantine extended