COVID quarantine times, risk designation adjusted

China has shortened the COVID-19 quarantine time for inbound international travelers and refined the designation of medium- and high-risk areas, in an effort to cope with the highly infectious Omicron variant more precisely, according to a document released on Tuesday.

"The adjustment by no means suggests a loosening of novel coronavirus control measures. Rather, we are aiming for higher standards and more targeted and faster response in dealing with outbreaks, while adhering to the dynamic zero COVID-19 strategy," said Lei Zhenglong, deputy director of the National Health Commission's Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control, during a news conference.

The State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism released the ninth and latest prevention and control guideline for COVID-19 on Tuesday, more than a year after the previous version was published.