Shops are reopening and PCR test requirements are decreasing as more and more Chinese cities reopen, including Beijing and Shanghai, health authorities are relaxing health measures to curb COVID-19, a week after unprecedented levels of outrage protests.
In the Chinese capital of 22 million people, many shops reopened as early as the weekend and today residents were able to use public transport again without having to show a negative 48-hour molecular test.
The same in Shanghai, where the requirement to show a negative molecular test to be able to access certain public places (parks, tourist attractions, etc.) was also lifted.
The Chinese economic metropolis of 25 million people was put under strict lockdown for more than two months in the spring after an outbreak of cases, a measure which was very unpopular and also affected the country's economy.
Showing a health certificate is still required in many places, however, and travel is still difficult between provinces, with travellers still facing the possibility of having to remain in their place of residence if an outbreak is detected.
A week ago, anger that had been building up for months against the strict zero COVID policy erupted and some 10 Chinese cities saw demonstrations of unprecedented scale since the 1989 pro-democracy Tiananmen Square protests.
Flexibility
The zero tolerance policy on COVID-19 that had been in place for nearly three years had upended the daily lives of China's residents, with repeated quarantines and large-scale molecular testing almost daily during 2022.
These protests, mostly by students, quickly took a political turn, with some calling for the departure of President Xi Jinping.
In response, authorities have since begun to ease the restrictions and the decision was welcomed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Chinese president himself acknowledged that the variant Omicron strain of the new coronavirus, which is less deadly, paves the way for more flexibility in restrictions, according to his remarks to European Council President Charles Michel, who visited Beijing last week, relayed by a European official.
The tone was also changed by the official press, which had previously insisted on the danger of COVID-19.
The Chinese financial medium Yicai yesterday quoted a health expert who stressed that the majority of those affected are asymptomatic () and the mortality rate is very low.
Sluggish economic growth
The National Health Commission (NHC), a ministry equivalent, classifies COVID-19 as category A, which is the most dangerous, which allows local authorities to impose lockdowns and place citizens in isolation in quarantine centres.
This approach no longer aligns with what the science says, the expert ruled, calling for COVID-19 to be downgraded.
However, as the Chinese economy is expected to record one of the worst growth rates in four decades this year, exiting the zero COVID-19 policy is a delicate business.
Finding a balance between COVID-19 control measures and economic growth has again become a central issue, according to economist Wang Jae, who was commenting on the negative performance of the service sector today.
The central government recently issued clear requirements on how to further improve the (health policy). However, how local authorities will or will not implement these guidelines will be crucial, he noted.
Near Shanghai, Hangzhou city announced that it is ending PCR tests on a large scale which had been the norm in the region with the exception of only those in contact with nursing homes, schools and nurseries and kindergartens.
Wards were torn down
In Urumqi, the capital of northwest China's Xinjiang province - where a deadly apartment building fire sparked an outbreak of protests in the country as health restrictions were accused of hampering rescue teams
, supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and ski resorts reopened today.
In Wuhan, in central China, where the first cases of the new coronavirus were detected in December 2019, and in Shandong province, in eastern China, public transportation also stopped requiring negative PCR tests from passengers.
In Zhengzhou, in central China, authorities lifted the test requirement for access to public places and for public transportation, including residential buildings.
However, although many testing booths for the new coronavirus have been torn down in recent days, long lines were visible over the weekend at those that still exist, especially in Beijing and Shenzhen, in southern China, as tests are still required almost everywhere.
Students cannot go to school without a negative 24-hour test, an internet user pointed out on social media Weibo, a Chinese medium similar to Twitter.
Therefore what is the point of closing test booths without removing all test requirements everywhere?
The number of cases declined today, standing at 29,724 mostly asymptomatic, with this number being very low compared to the Chinese population (1.4 billion).
Source: APE-MPA
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