Passengers wait for trains at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station in Shanghai on Jan 3, 2021. [Photo/VCG]

14-day home isolation also required for those heading back for Spring Festival

China's top health authority said on Wednesday that people intending to travel home to rural areas during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday must provide negative novel coronavirus test results taken within seven days of embarkation as part of measures to cope with rising risks of the virus' spread in winter.

About 1.7 billion passengers trips are expected during this year's 40-day travel rush around Spring Festival, which falls on Feb 12. That is down by 40 percent compared to 2019, before the emergence of the virus, but a 10 percent increase on last year, according to the Ministry of Transport.

The projected daily passenger trips-about 40 million a day-are double the current volume, putting the country's disease control work to the test, the ministry said during a news conference.

According to a notice released on the website of the National Health Commission, people returning to the countryside should also isolate themselves at home for 14 days and take nucleic acid tests every seven days.

Details of how these policies will be enforced have yet to be released.