NEWS//COVID disrupts holiday travel

COVID is bringing social pain to China during its most important festivals. 

Annually the largest migration of human beings takes place in China during the New Year and Spring Festivals. Most of China's population travels to spend time with family. Many of those are people who have relocated from rural China to a city in search of employment.

But this year COVID is on the rise again in China. Although, currently, the number of COVID cases are only in the hundreds. Nonetheless, China has introduced measures — by American standards, drastic measures — to stop the coronavirus' spread. Those measures will stifle the travel plans of hundreds of millions.

For example, anyone who wishes to return to a rural area of China must have a negative COVID test within seven days of traveling. That test result must be presented to the village leaders when they arrive. Those travelers then must quarantine for 14 days. During that time they need to take additional tests every seven days. They must avoid unnecessary gatherings or travel in their rural areas. Of course, they must exercise proper hygiene and use self-protection measures.

The result of these restrictions is that remarkably fewer people will travel over the festival period.

Sources: Sinocism, SupChina, China Digital Times, Global Times