CNN
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The US plans to relax restrictions on Covid-19 testing for travelers from China on Friday, a source familiar with the matter told CNN on Tuesday, citing a drop in Covid cases, hospitalizations, and mortality and more data surrounding the variants circulating in China.
In December, federal health officials announced that, starting January 5, the US will require all travelers from China to show a negative Covid test result before flying into the country after a rapid Beijing’s easing of Covid restrictions has led to a surge in cases.
The source said the order was placed in an effort to protect US citizens after “a huge wave of infections in the PRC,” coupled with a “lack of transparency” by Chinese officials surrounding the surge.
The Washington Post was the first to report the news about the relaxed travel restrictions.
The Biden administration still plans to monitor cases in China and around the world, maintaining a Traveler-based Genomic Surveillance (TGS) program that surveys travelers for details of new variants.
The testing requirement implemented in January came after China dismantled its controversial and long-held zero-Covid policy in early December, catching much of the country by surprise.
US officials have expressed concern at the time about the risk of a new variant emerging in China as they have limited insight into the rise in infections.
Tuesday’s announcement also comes after a US Department of Energy assessment that the virus likely emerged from an accident in a Chinese laboratory has put further strain on relations between the US and China.
The department’s “low confidence” determination — a minority view among U.S. intelligence agencies — prompted the Chinese Foreign Ministry to call on the U.S. to “respect science and facts, stop politicizing it.” issue, stop intelligence-led, politically-driven source-tracking.”
China fiercely denies that the virus emerged from a lab accident but has complicated outside efforts to understand how the pandemic began.
This story has been updated with additional information.