India lifts COVID-19 testing mandate for some international passengers; Chinese embassy issues reminding notice
Global Times
By Global Times Published: Feb 14, 2023 02:16 AM
The Chinese Embassy in India published a notice on Monday reminding Chinese citizens about the latest entry policies for international travelers arriving in India. The notice states that all travelers should ideally be fully vaccinated in accordance with their country's approved primary schedule for COVID-19 vaccination.
India has lifted the COVID-19 testing requirement for travelers arriving from or via countries and regions including China, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Japan. This change went into effect on Monday.
Many countries, including India, have welcomed Chinese tourists who contribute significantly to foreign consumption. Experts believe that these tourists could play a key role in reviving inbound tourism for these countries and regions.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India has recently released the "Guidelines for International Arrivals" in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These guidelines went into effect on Monday. In-flight announcements about the ongoing pandemic, including the importance of wearing masks and maintaining physical distance, will be made during travel and at all points of entry.
Any passenger showing symptoms of COVID-19 during travel will be isolated and required to wear a mask, before being transported to an isolation facility for further treatment, as per the guidelines.
As China announced to downgrade management of COVID-19 infection and resume outbound tourism for Chinese citizens in an orderly manner, the embassies and tourism authorities of many countries including Thailand, New Zealand and Norway welcomed Chinese tourists, saying they have been waiting for them for three years.
Wu Liyun, an associate professor at the China Academy of Culture and Tourism Industry at Beijing International Studies University told the Global Times on Monday that many countries and regions are faced with the need to the recovery of tourism industry or the related industries driven by tourism. "More tourists' arrival can stimulate an industrial recovery. Our life basically is the same as it was before the pandemic currently," Wu said.
"In this regard, if any country restricts the travel of Chinese tourists, it is also restricting its own economic development, as Chinese tourists are not different from tourists from all over the world," Wu noted. "This is not conducive to the domestic economy, including the tourism economy. I don't think it is a rational approach."
According to the notice released by the India's Ministry of Civil Aviation on February 10, in order to monitor infections due to the mutated variants of the COVID-19 among international travelers to India, the present exercise of random testing of 2 percent travelers to India (irrespective of country of origin) upon arrival in India will continue. This measure went into effect at 11 am on Monday, according to the authorities.
Wu believed that the fully opening of international travel has significant meaning toward the global tourism as well as the economic development of all the countries.
China resumed outbound group travel to 20 countries, including Thailand, the Maldives, the United Arab Emirates, Russia and New Zealand on February 6, after downgrading its management of COVID-19 from Class A to Class B on January 8. Group tours between the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions also resumed.
The first flight in three years carrying a Chinese outbound tourist group took off early on February 6 after China resumed pilot outbound tours following its optimized epidemic control measures.
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