China to Ease COVID Curbs after Widespread Protests

China is set to announce in coming days an easing of its COVID-19 quarantine protocols and a reduction in mass testing, sources said, a marked shift in policy after anger over the world’s toughest curbs fuelled widespread protests. Reports said.

Cases nationwide remain near record highs but the changes come as some cities have been lifting their lockdowns in recent days, and a top official said “the ability of the virus to cause disease was weakening.”

Health authorities announcing the easing in their areas have not mentioned the protests – “the biggest show of civil disobedience” in China for years which ranged from candle-lit vigils in Beijing to street clashes with police in Guangzhou.

The measures due to be unveiled include a reduction in mass testing and regular nucleic acid tests and moves to allow positive cases and close contacts to isolate at home under certain conditions, the sources familiar with the matter said.

That is a far cry from earlier protocols that led to public frustrations as entire communities were locked down, sometimes for weeks, after even ‘just one positive case.’

The frustration boiled over last week in demonstrations of public defiance unprecedented in mainland China since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012, and come as the economy is set to enter a new era of much slower growth than seen in decades.

Changing Rules
Less than 24 hours after violent protests in Guangzhou on Tuesday, authorities in at least seven districts of the sprawling manufacturing hub, said “they were lifting temporary lockdowns.” One district said it would allow schools, restaurants and businesses including cinemas to reopen.

Cities including Chongqing and Zhengzhou also announced easings.

Adding to the sense of a shift in direction, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, who oversees COVID efforts, said “the virus’s ability to cause disease was weakening,” state media reported.

Reuters /Shakirat Sadiq