Beijing residents yesterday cheered the removal of COVID-19 testing booths, while Shenzhen said it would no longer require commuters to present test results to travel, as an easing of China’s virus curbs gathered pace.
Although daily cases are 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 a sharp economic slowdown and public frustration that has boiled over into unrest.
The southern city of Shenzhen announced it would no longer require people to show a negative COVID-19 test result to use public transportation or enter parks, following similar moves by Chengdu and Tianjin.
Photo: AFP
Many testing booths in Beijing have been shut, as the capital stops demanding negative test results as a condition to enter places such as supermarkets and prepares to do so for subways from tomorrow. Many other venues, including offices, still require testing.
A video showing workers in Beijing removing a testing booth by crane onto a truck went viral on Chinese social media on Friday.
“This should have been taken away earlier,” one commentator wrote about the video.
“Banished to history,” another wrote.
Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the footage.
At some of the remaining booths, residents grumbled about hour-long waits for the tests due to the closures.
Three years after COVID-19 emerged in central China, the nation has been a global outlier with a zero-tolerance approach of lockdowns and frequent testing. The authorities say the measures are needed to save lives and avoid overwhelming China’s healthcare system.
China began tweaking its approach last month, urging localities to become more targeted. Initial reactions were marked with confusion and even tighter lockdowns as cities scrambled to keep a lid on rising cases.
Then a deadly apartment fire last month in the far western city of Urumqi sparked dozens of protests against COVID-19 curbs in more than 20 cities in a wave unprecedented in mainland China since Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) took power in 2012.
Yesterday, police kept a heavy presence around Liangmaqiao junction in east Beijing, as authorities sought to put off any potential follow-up to last weekend’s unrest.
A similarly large police presence could be seen on streets close to Shanghai’s Wulumuqi Road, which is named after Urumqi and was the site of a vigil for the victims of the fire that turned into protests last weekend.
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