Businesses reopening, fewer requirements for PCR tests… Health rules are being relaxed in more and more cities in China, a week after historic protests.
In Beijing, the capital of 22 million people, many shops reopened this weekend and residents could use public transport again on Monday, December 5, without having to present a negative PCR test result dating back less than 48 years. hours. Same measure in Shanghai, where this obligation is also lifted to access certain public places such as parks and tourist attractions.
Near Shanghai, the city of Hangzhou has announced that it will end large-scale PCR tests, except for those in contact with retirement homes, schools and daycares. In Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang (northwest), supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and ski resorts reopened on Monday.
A historic mobilization for the “zero Covid” policy
The financial megalopolis of 25 million inhabitants had been severely confined for more than two months in the spring, after the appearance of an outbreak of Covid-19 cases. A very unpopular measure, which also had an impact on the country’s economy.
A week ago, this anger against the strict “zero Covid” policy erupted with demonstrations in a dozen Chinese cities, an unprecedented scale since the pro-democracy mobilizations of Tiananmen in 1989.
In effect for almost three years, this “zero Covid” policy has disrupted the daily lives of residents, with repeated confinements and large-scale PCR tests almost every day in 2022.