Epidemic control staff who perform nucleic acid tests wear protective suits as they to forestall the spread of COVID-19 ride a scooter in a virtually empty street in Beijing, China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
Kevin Frayer | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Beijing residents cheered the removal of Covid-19 testing booths while Shenzhen followed other cities in announcing it could not require commuters to present their test results to travel, as an easing of China’s virus curbs gathered pace.
Although day by day cases hover near all-time highs, some cities are taking steps to loosen Covid-19 testing requirements and quarantine rules as China looks to make its zero-Covid policy more targeted amid an economic slowdown and public frustration that has boiled over into unrest.
Three years into the pandemic, China has been a worldwide outlier with its zero-tolerance approach towards Covid that has seen it implement lockdowns and frequent virus testing. It says the measures are needed to avoid wasting lives and avoid overwhelming its healthcare system.
China began tweaking its approach last month, urging localities to turn out to be more targeted. Initial reactions, nonetheless, were marked with confusion and even tighter lockdowns as cities scrambled to maintain a lid on rising cases.
Then a deadly apartment fire last month within the far western city of Urumqi sparked dozens of protests against Covid curbs in a wave unprecedented in mainland China since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012. Cities including Guangzhou and Beijing have since taken the lead in making changes.
Less testing
On Saturday, the southern city of Shenzhen announced it could not require people to indicate a negative Covid test result to make use of public transport or enter parks, following similar moves by Chengdu and Tianjin, amongst China’s biggest cities.
Many testing booths within the Chinese capital of Beijing have also been shut, as the town stops demanding negative test results as a condition to enter places reminiscent of supermarkets and prepares to achieve this for subways from Monday, though many other venues including offices still have the requirement.
A video showing staff in Beijing removing a testing booth by crane on to a truck went viral on Chinese social media on Friday.
“This could have been taken away earlier!,” said one commentator. “Banished to history,” said one other.
Reuters was unable confirm the authenticity of the footage. At among the remaining booths, nonetheless, residents grumbled about hour-long queues for the tests on account of the closures.
Further reductions coming
China is ready to further announce a nationwide reduction in testing requirements in addition to allowing positive cases and shut contacts to isolate at home under certain conditions, sources accustomed to the matter told Reuters earlier this week.
Xi, during a gathering with European Union officials in Beijing on Thursday, blamed the mass protests on youth frustrated by years of the Covid-19 pandemic, but said the now-dominant Omicron variant of the virus paved the way in which for fewer restrictions, EU officials said.
Officials have only recently begun to downplay the hazards of Omicron, a big change in messaging in a rustic where fear of Covid has run deep.
On Friday, some Beijing neighbourhoods posted guidelines on social media on how positive cases can be quarantined at home, a landmark move that marks a break from official guidance to send such people to central quarantine.
Still, the relief has also been accompanied by concerns, especially from groups reminiscent of the elderly who feel more exposed to a disease authorities had consistently described as deadly until this week, highlighting the difficulties Xi and Chinese leaders face in loosening.
China reported 32,827 recent local Covid-19 infections for Dec. 2, down from 34,772 a day earlier.
