China eases Covid measures, trims quarantine time by two days

China reduced the quarantine time for international travelers by two days, state
media said Friday. In contact tracing, China said it will no longer track people
beyond close contacts of Covid infections. Previously, people who were connected
to those close contacts might face additional Covid restrictions. People entering the
bubble from China need to be vaccinated, and might need to quarantine once the
event ends, the report said.
Travel-related stocks saw a boost, with China Eastern Airlines climbing 6% and
Cathay Pacific gaining almost 3% in the afternoon session. Casino operators MGM
China, Wynn Macau, and Sands China all saw shares gain around 8%. China has
stuck to its stringent zero-Covid policy, while the rest of the world has shifted to a
“living with Covid” approach. Beijing’s emphasis on what it calls "dynamic zero-
Covid" has been implemented with significant variation at a local level, causing
great uncertainty and dampening travel.
The number of Covid infections nationwide has surged in the last several days to
the highest in about half a year.