Mainland China has lifted COVID-19 measures numerous times since the spring. Even though far from completely open to business, the steps signal real changes and the right direction. But there was one sore spot hardly touched, i.e., the weeks-long suspension of an international flight into China if a certain number of passengers tested COVID positive. Until now. China just announced a modification of the policy (https://news.sina.com.cn/o/2022-08-07/doc-imizirav7089535.shtml). In simplistic words, the new policy is 4 times less harsh than the old one. For example, in the old days a 5 or 10 positive cases would lead to a 2 or 4 weeks suspension penalty. But in the new policy, a 4% or 8% positive rate will get 1 or 2 weeks, and in a plane with 250 passengers, 4% is 10 people. This will help normalizing international travel and economic activities.
Of all the COVID-19 measures by China, lockdown is the No1 the most hated, mass testing is No2, and the flight suspension is likely No3. It has ruined so many people’s life, money, time, and emotion, for over 2.5 years, because airfares have skyrocketed, flights have shrank dramatically, yet passengers who plan months ahead and pay big money to secure a ticket still don’t know if they can fly or when. While the policy could have been justified in 2020, when there was no vaccines, in 2021, when vaccines were just being rolled out and new variants were emerging, or even in Jan 2022, when the more infectious and less known Omicron was spreading, there is really no justification for it (or the lockdown, mass testing) since early 2022. It is punishing passengers of the would-be later flights for the “sin” of those in the previous flights and the airlines for simply doing their jobs. It became the most disgusting policy when it was hardly changed while the lockdown and mass testing policies were lessened by early summer. It has already led to severe disruption of international travel in July, Aug, and Sept 2022. One can only hope that flights will turn normal after Oct 2022. Indeed, this suspension policy should be abolished right away and replaced with something more sensible, along with other COVID-19 restrictions such as lockdown and mass testing.
