US Sets Travel Requirements For Travelers From China, Hong Kong And Macau

The United States will impose mandatory COVID-19 tests for passengers flying in from China, including Hong Kong and Macau, as China sets to re-open its borders next week.

Passengers will be required to test negative in a PCR test or an antigen self-test administered and monitored by a licensed provider within two days before departure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The requirement will be implemented starting Jan. 5. It will also apply to travelers flying in from China via third-country gateways such as South Korea and Canada.

"CDC is announcing this step to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the United States during the surge in COVID-19 cases in the PRC given the lack of adequate and transparent epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data being reported from the PRC," the health agency announced Wednesday.

"These data are critical to monitor the case surge effectively and decrease the chance for entry of a novel variant of concern. CDC will continue to monitor the situation and adjust our approach as necessary," it continued.

Passengers who test positive more than 10 days before the flight will be required to provide documentation of recovery from COVID-19 in lieu of a negative test result.

Health officials reportedly chose the Jan. 5 timeline to provide airlines with enough time to adjust operations to implement the new requirements.

"It does take some effort by the airlines to update their data systems to put this all in place. And so we have to make this announcement today, but it will take time to implement the program," a federal health official told reporters at a briefing, according to CBS News.

The U.S. joined Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan and India in implementing tighter measures amid China's lack of transparency regarding their recent surge in COVID-19 cases.

The United Kingdom, meanwhile, said that it has yet to make plans to reintroduce testing or other entry requirements for travelers.

Earlier this month, China announced it would ease travel restrictions to and from the country, after almost three years of closing its borders.

Authorities said quarantine for travelers entering China will no longer be required, and passport applications for Chinese citizens will resume, according to a report by the BBC.

On Wednesday, a Chinese official said that Western countries and media are just hyping and distorting China's COVID-19 policy adjustments.

"We need all parties to work together scientifically against the epidemic to ensure the safe movement of people between countries, maintain the stability of the global industrial chain supply chain and promote the resumption of healthy growth in the world economy," China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in a briefing, as quoted by CNN.