Photo: Cui Meng/GT

China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced on Tuesday that tourists could travel to other provinces with public transporation if they could present a negative nucleic acid testing result within 48 hours, in an apparent move to relax previous strict requirement on cross-provincial travel, but inbound and outbound group tour services as well as group tour services in border cities remain suspended.

The annocement is the latest move from the Chinese central government to further optimize COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control management with scientific and precise measures to be adopted. 

According to the notice, management on the inter-provincial tourism will be optimized in accordance with the latest measures on the management of areas at risk. Inter-provincial tourists have to have negative nucleic acid testing results obtained within 48 hours to take inter-provincial public transportation. The inter-provincial tourists have to take nucleic acid tests proactively upon their arrival to their destinations. 

The notice also stressed that inbound and outbound group tour service and the package service of ticket and hotel reservation provided by travel agencies and online tourism companies will remain suspended. Group tour services in border cities will not resume for now. 

The notice reminded to fully recognize that optimizing and adjusting prevention and control measures does not mean to relax prevention and control, still less to "lie flat," but to adapt to the new situation of epidemic prevention and control and the new characteristics of the mutation of COVID-19. 

The established epidemic prevention and control strategies and guidelines have to be adhere to and they have to be improved scientifically and precisely in a bid to secure the safety of the people and minimize the impact of the epidemic on the cultural and tourism sector, the notice said. 

The notice also stressed health monitoring and management on staffers from the public cultural institutions and the cultural and tourism businesses. Meanwhile, the one-size-fits-all method and ramping up management will be regulated. 

Once tourists are stranded due to sudden flare-ups, they have to be transferred in an orderly manner to prevent spillover cases, according to the notice

Global Times