China announced Wednesday a nationwide loosening of Covid-19 restrictions following protests against the hardline strategy that grew into calls for greater political freedoms.
Anger over China's zero-Covid policy – which involved mass lockdowns, constant testing and quarantines even for people who are not infected – stoked unrest not seen since the 1989 pro-democracy protests.
Under the new guidelines announced by the National Health Commission (NHC), the frequency and scope of PCR testing – long a tedious mainstay of life in zero-Covid China – will be reduced.
Lockdowns will also be scaled down and people with non-severe Covid cases can isolate at home instead of centralised government facilities.
And people will no longer be required to show a green health code on their phone to enter public buildings and spaces, except for "nursing homes, medical institutions, kindergartens, middle and high schools".
The new rules scrap the forced quarantines for people with no symptoms or with mild cases.
"Asymptomatic infected persons and mild cases who are eligible for home isolation are generally isolated at home, or they can voluntarily choose centralised isolation for treatment," the new rules read.
"Mass PCR testing only carried out in schools, hospitals, nursing homes and high-risk work units; scope and frequency of PCR testing to be further reduced," they added.
China will also accelerate the vaccination of the elderly, the NHC said, long seen as a major obstacle to the relaxation of Beijing's no-tolerance approach to Covid.
China began softening its tone last week and easing some coronavirus restrictions even as its daily case toll hovered near record highs, after anger over the world's toughest curbs fuelled protests across the country.
Several cities in the world's second-largest economy began breaking with practice by lifting district lockdowns and allowing businesses to reopen.
Health authorities announcing the relaxation of measures did not mention the protests, which ranged from candle-lit vigils in Beijing to clashes with the police on the streets of Guangzhou and at an iPhone factory in Zhengzhou last week.
The demonstrations marked the biggest show of civil disobedience in mainland China since President Xi Jinping took power a decade ago and come as the economy is set to enter a new era of much slower growth than seen in decades.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
