Update: China Loosens ‘Zero-Covid’ Controls on Quarantine, Inbound Flights

China ended its “circuit breaker” mechanism for inbound flights and shortened the quarantine period for overseas travelers in an effort to “optimize” the country’s Covid-19 response, health authorities announced Friday.

Travelers arriving in the country now must submit to five days of centralized quarantine plus three days of home confinement, rather than seven days of centralized isolation and three days of observation at home, according to the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council.