Chinese Media: "Arrivals Not Keeping Self-Quarantine Promises"...Justifying Self-Paid Quarantine

On the 4th, disinfection company staff are disinfecting a Korean Air passenger plane bound for New York at the Korean Air aircraft maintenance hangar at Incheon International Airport. / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi] As Beijing, China, decided to quarantine all incoming travelers at designated locations for 14 days starting from the 16th, Chinese media emphasized that the strengthened entry management measures would be the most effective way to eradicate the virus and appealed for support.

On the 16th, the state-run Global Times editorial expressed concern over the increasing cases of overseas COVID-19 re-importation into China. It noted that fortunately, most patients are being identified in a timely manner during entry quarantine, but stressed that it is time for China to implement stronger measures to block overseas re-importation of COVID-19.

The newspaper pointed out, "Some individuals entering China from abroad did not comply with self-quarantine promises, and local communities failed to monitor them perfectly. As a result, some people violated the 14-day quarantine commitment and went out without restrictions, and some later tested positive for COVID-19, increasing the risk to China's COVID-19 control." It added, "Transporting incoming travelers to centralized observation points for 14 days of health monitoring is the best method to eradicate COVID-19 and can be more effective than self-quarantine."

The sudden announcement by Beijing to, in principle, transfer all asymptomatic entrants to centralized observation points for 14 days of health monitoring from that day appears to be an explanation of the legitimacy and necessity of the measure, anticipating criticism from various countries. The newspaper also emphasized that Beijing’s decision to require incoming travelers to bear all costs related to the 14-day quarantine at designated facilities is a natural measure.

The newspaper stated, "It is important that individuals pay their own costs during the quarantine period. Previously, some regions such as Weihai City in Shandong Province allowed incoming travelers not to bear quarantine costs or to self-quarantine, but these measures gave some foreigners the mistaken impression that COVID-19 treatment is free in China, resulting in people entering China to avoid COVID-19 elsewhere. It must be understood that the 14-day quarantine costs must be borne by the individuals themselves."

It continued, "China cannot take extreme measures such as blocking international flight routes or closing its borders. The basic policy should maintain exchanges with all countries while reducing the number of incoming travelers from abroad to China. The achievements China has made in fighting COVID-19 were based on the sacrifices of the Chinese people and must be preserved at all costs," it emphasized.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.