US eases China travel advisory citing 'improved conditions', asks people to 'reconsider'

The US Department of State has issued a new travel advisory for residents travelling to China, a move that comes amid resuming international businesses. On September 14, the state department eased restrictions, downgrading the warning from “do not travel” to “reconsider travel” to China. The new advisory is not limited to mainland China but also applicable to other regions including Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. 

Level 3 Travel health notice

Issuing 'Level 3' Travel Health Notice, the State Department said China has "improved conditions" and "resumed most business operations". Earlier in June, the American government had restricted all kinds of travel to China issuing a 'Level 4' warning. This comes days after the American Chamber of Commerce sent a direct charter flight to Beijing. The flight which left of September 13 carried 87 people.

America, which is slowly resuming travel business has reported a total of 6554335 positive cases along with 194,530 deaths. On the other hand, China, where the pandemic originated, has reported 90,219 positive cases and 4,735 fatalities. While America has been battered by the recession and growing health crisis, China is focussing on resuming businesses fully. Earlier this month, the Xi Jinping led government reopened schools in Wuhan. In addition, China's economy has also shown positive growth in the latest quarter. 

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Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, another nation with strict restrictions, asserted that it will partially lift its suspension of International flights starting from September 16.  In addition, all restrictions on air, land and sea transportation for Saudi citizens would be ended next year “after January 1”. Saudi Arabia, which reported 325,651 cases and 4,268 fatalities till now has successfully managed to curb the spread of COVID-19. 

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In a statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency, the ministry explained that the new rules would permit all gulf and non-Saudi residents to enter the country. However, they all need to have valid residency permits and visas and should not be infected by the coronavirus infection.

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