China slashes COVID quarantine time for international travellers

China slashed the quarantine time for inbound travellers by half on Tuesday, in a major easing of COVID-19 curbs that have deterred cross-border travel and resulted in international flights running at just 2% of pre-pandemic levels. Quarantine at centralised facilities has been cut to seven days from 14, and subsequent at-home health monitoring has been reduced to three days from seven, the National Health Commission said. China's adherence to strict anti-COVID measures even as the rest of the world tries to live with the virus has battered its economy, frustrated businesses and infuriated many of the millions people caught up in draconian lockdowns in cities like Shanghai. In recent months, China has cautiously eased curbs on cross-border travellers, with health officials saying the shorter incubation period of the Omicron variant allows for an adjustment of quarantine time. <br/>And earlier this month, China's aviation regulator said it had been in touch with some countries to steadily increase flight numbers in the second half of 2022. The new quarantine rules were welcomed by American, British and European business lobby groups in China.<br/>