China's citizens are allowed to ride the subway without a PCR test: many cities are relaxing, but the zero-Covid policy remains

Created: 04/12/2022 15:14

By: Christiane Kuehl

First easing of the corona measures in Urumqi: People are allowed to go out there again to buy groceries.

In Urumqi, ten people died in a fire in a sealed off apartment building.

This triggered a nationwide wave of protests.

© CNS/AFP

China's local politicians are reacting to the Corona protests of the past weekend.

Many cities announced the first easing: quarantine at home or no more tests for bus driving.

Beijing/Munich - In response to nationwide protests against the zero-Covid policy, several cities across China relaxed testing and quarantine rules over the weekend.

Despite the increasing number of infections, some also allowed restaurants, shopping centers and schools to open.

So far, however, experts are not expecting a larger wave of openings.

It remains for the time being with individual measures.

China reported 32,827 new infections on Saturday, slightly fewer cases than in the past few days.

But in the state-run

, several health experts advocated allowing those infected to isolate at home instead of bringing all those who tested positive to state quarantine centers.

A Beijing district has already announced that those who have tested positive will no longer have to go to such facilities.

In Shenzhen and Dongguan in the Pearl River Delta, infected people are also allowed to isolate themselves at home “under certain conditions”, according to the authorities.

China: Subway and bus for the first time in a long time without a negative PCR test

The obligation to test is also being relaxed in many cities.

In Shanghai, testing will no longer be compulsory for trips on public transport or entering parks and outdoor tourist attractions from Monday.

Shanghai is thus following the example of several Chinese cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shenzhen and Chengdu, whose citizens have been able to travel by bus or subway again without a test since Friday or Saturday.

In the capital Beijing, the health authorities also called on hospitals to treat people without a negative PCR test.

Since Saturday, residents there have no longer had to leave their names when buying fever and cold medication.

The first test stations have already been dismantled in Beijing.

A video showing workers in Beijing using a crane to load a test booth onto a truck went viral on China's social media on Friday.

"Relegated to history," etched one commentator, according to

.

China: Even Xi Jinping acknowledges less threat from omicron

Head of state Xi Jinping himself also made surprising comments.

Xi, who likes to be celebrated for the strict zero-Covid policy, told EU Council President Charles Michel during his visit to Beijing, according to EU officials, that the Omicron variant allows "more openings".

The population is "frustrated" after three years of the pandemic, Xi emphasized.

The protesters were mainly students or young people.

On Wednesday, Vice Prime Minister Sun Chunlan spoke of "a new situation and new tasks in preventing and combating the epidemic".

The World Health Organization (WHO) meanwhile welcomed the cautious easing.

WHO Emergency Director Michael Ryan told journalists in Geneva: "We are pleased to hear that the Chinese authorities are adapting their strategies and are now really trying to balance the necessary control measures with people's lives, livelihoods and human rights." Ryan also welcomed the increasing vaccination rate in China.

But this is much too slow for most experts.

Foreign mRNA vaccines such as those from Biontech are not approved in China.

Sales of its own vaccines, such as those from Sinovac, are also currently sluggish due to a lack of demand.

The reasons for this remain a mystery to most observers.

China: Massive police presence prevents further zero-Covid protests

China's zero-Covid policy and the associated constant lockdowns and controls triggered a nationwide wave of protests last weekend.

What began with grief over ten fatalities in the fire in an apparently cordoned-off residential building in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi, was soon directed at several demos - for example in Shanghai and Beijing - against Head of State Xi Jinping and the Communist Party.

In Shanghai, for example, demonstrators had loudly called for Xi and the CP to resign.

A strong police presence prevented further protests during the week.

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This weekend, too, there were only isolated protests and clashes with the police, including in Wuhan in central China, where the pandemic began at the end of 2019.

Many security forces can still be seen, especially at the sites of last weekend's protests, such as Urumqi Street in Shanghai.

In many places abroad, people took to the streets in solidarity with the protesters, including in Taipei, Berlin, Tokyo and Boston.

In northwestern Urumqi - the site of the apartment building fire that killed 10 people that sparked nationwide anti-lockdown protests - authorities on Friday announced the phased opening of supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and nearby ski areas.

The city with its more than five million inhabitants is one of the places in China that have been affected by corona measures for the longest time.

Some neighborhoods have been in lockdown since early August.