Following widespread protests against stringent zero-COVID policies, major Chinese cities have begun to lift COVID lockdowns and ease restrictions.
Less than 24 hours after violent protests in Guangzhou, officials announced the lifting of lockdowns in at least seven districts of the sprawling port city north of Hong Kong.
On Wednesday, one school district announced that in-person classes would resume and that restaurants and other businesses, including cinemas, would reopen.
Authorities in the southwestern city of Chongqing announced that close contacts of people infected with COVID-19 who meet certain criteria will now be allowed to quarantine at home.
The “orderly” resumption of businesses, including supermarkets, gyms, and restaurants, was announced in Zhengzhou, central China, where there have been clashes and an exodus of workers from the site frustrated by COVID curbs.
Protests have erupted across the country in response to COVID lockdowns and restrictions, including in the commercial hub of Shanghai and the capital Beijing, in rare displays of open dissent.
According to new rules issued by community leaders, people with mild coronavirus symptoms in east Beijing are now allowed to self-isolate at home.
This week, another nearby neighborhood is holding an online poll on the possibility of positive cases isolating themselves at home.
“I certainly welcome the decision by our residential community to run this vote regardless of the outcome,” resident Tom Simpson, managing director for China at the China-Britain Business Council, said.
He expressed concern about being forced to enter a quarantine facility, where “conditions can be grim to say the least”
The softer stance follows earlier this year’s quarantine protocols, which saw entire communities locked down, sometimes for weeks, after even one positive case was discovered.
Earlier this week, national health officials stated that China would respond to “urgent concerns” raised by the public, and that COVID rules should be implemented more flexibly, depending on the severity of outbreaks in each region.
Despite near-record case numbers, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said on Wednesday that the virus’s ability to cause disease was deteriorating, according to state media.
She also advocated for additional “optimisation” of testing, treatment, and quarantine policies.
It contradicts earlier warnings from authorities about the virus’s impending demise.
Although the easing of some measures appears to be an attempt to appease the public, authorities have also begun to seek out protesters, according to some who were present at the Beijing protests.
