China has announced that it will end traveler quarantine as of January 8th, the last significant departure from the nation’s zero-Covid policy.

Chinese authorities claim they would reopen the country to people with work and study visas as well as those who want to visit family after nearly three years of closed borders.

The revelation comes as China battles the virus’s spread after limits were loosened this month as a result of massive citizen protests in November.

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To that effect, Beijing recorded roughly 4,000 new Covid infections per day last week and a small number of deaths, but due to the government’s decision to stop disclosing Covid data, health professionals think the true COVID-19 toll is in the millions.

After three years of lockdowns, closed borders, and required quarantines for Covid cases and contacts, China is the final major economy in the world to transition to “living with Covid.”

Since March 2020, everybody entering China has been subject to a requirement that they spend up to three weeks at a time in a state facility’s mandatory quarantine. Recently, it was shortened to five days.

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On the other hand, Covid was formally reduced to a Class B infectious disease on January 8 according to a statement made by the National Health Commission on Monday.

As a result, quarantine would be abolished (although new arrivals would still need to undergo a PCR test) and the daily flying limit entering China would also be lifted.

In light of this, President Xi made his first comments on the revisions on Monday, December 26, urging officials to take “feasible” action to save lives.

He was quoted by state media as saying that a new situation with pandemic control faced the nation and required a more focused reaction.