Chinese officials on further ease of COVID measures

China has further eased its coronavirus control measures including scrapping the quarantine requirement for passengers arriving from abroad starting next month.

The Chinese National Health Commission had announced on Monday it will downgrade the management of COVID-19 from Class A to Class B. COVID-19 was classified as a Class B infectious disease, which include HIV and H7N9 bird flu, but was subjected to Class A management, the same control measure taken with cholera.

Health officials explained the decision was made because the dominant omicron variants spread faster but cause less severe symptoms, and the impact of vaccination coverage.