Qatar imposed a mandatory Covid-19 test for visitors coming from China amid the nation’s rising case numbers.

China has lifted the quarantine requirements for incoming travellers, putting an end to nearly three years of self-imposed isolation, despite struggling with a worrying rise in Covid cases, reported the Associated Press.

The country ended its zero-Covid policy that had previously been credited for protecting people from the infectious disease but cut them off from the outside world.

The containment strategy had a significant impact on the second-largest economy in the world and caused resentment throughout Chinese society, which sparked widespread demonstrations just before it was relaxed.

After almost three years of various lengths of mandatory isolation, foreigners entering China are no longer required to quarantine, leading to a rush in Chinese people booking travel abroad.

However, more than a dozen nations now require mandatory Covid tests for visitors from the most populous country in the world as it fights its worst-ever outbreak. According to the World Health Organization, China currently has more than 10 million confirmed cases.

The BBC reported an increase in celebrity deaths in China that has forced people across the nation to question the official death toll, which currently stands at 32,792, according to WHO.

Chinese authorities have stopped publishing figures, recording only 22 deaths since December when the zero-Covid policy was scrapped.

Last week, Qatar announced travellers from China must take a Covid test within 48 hours of their departure to Doha regardless of their immunity status and vaccine record under a newly rolled out entry policy.

As China enters the lunar new year holiday this month, millions are expected to travel from hard-hit megacities to the countryside to visit elderly relatives who are vulnerable to the outbreak.

On Saturday, China celebrated the start of “chun yun,” the 40-day period of travel around the lunar new year that was previously known as the largest annual human migration in history.

This lunar new year public holiday, which begins on January 21 officially, will be the first without domestic travel limitations since 2020.

Over the course of the next 40 days, more than 2 billion passengers are anticipated to travel, according to China’s ministry of transportation.