Shanghai on Wednesday lifted the most significant anti-Covid restrictions imposed for two months on its 25 million inhabitants, a further step towards a lifting of the containment which infuriates the population and strangles the economy.
Several measures had already been relaxed in recent days thanks to a sharp drop in the number of positive cases.
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But the population could generally go out, at best, only for a few hours a day, and on condition of being in a district without any case.
On Wednesday morning, Shanghainese people were heading back to work, while some stores were preparing to open.
The metro and public transport were working again, AFP noted.
“
This is the moment we have been waiting for for a long time
”, welcomed the mayor of Shanghai on social networks.
The authorities, however, warned that the return to normal was not for now.
Shopping centers, convenience stores, pharmacies and beauty salons can only operate at 75% capacity.
Sports halls and cinemas will remain closed and the reopening of schools will be done on a case-by-case basis.
On Tuesday, imposing yellow fences that had prevented residents from leaving their homes for two months were lowered.
Closing
While workers were busy dismantling the anti-Covid fortifications, onlookers, masked, took advantage of their first steps in freedom.
The famous historic Bund thoroughfare, along the Huangpu River that runs through the city, has come back to life with residents eager to take their pictures.
The shutdown of China's largest city was a crushing blow for Shanghainese.
Despite a dizzying increase in positive cases in March, the municipality initially dismissed the idea of containment, arguing the importance of Shanghai for the economy.
But the authorities reversed their decision in early April to hastily confine the entire metropolis.
Some inhabitants were already there long before this date.
Many have been exasperated by the problems with the supply of fresh produce and access to non-Covid medical care.
Read the fileChina facing the world
Shanghai's lockdown is the second longest in China since the start of the pandemic.
In 2020, that of Wuhan (center), the first city in the world affected by the Covid, had lasted 76 days.
The shutdown of Shanghai has weakened the economy, penalized production, limited consumption and seriously disrupted supply chains.