THE China decided to relax them meters of “zero tolerance” to coronaviruswith thousands of its citizens celebrating and shouting “we made it, we will be free”, as they hope for a partial return to “normalcy”.
As reported by the Reuters agency, the demonstrations that broke out in major citiesappear to have worked, as the relaxation of rules, which include allowing those who become infected and show mild symptoms to remain in home quarantine and the abolition of testing for those traveling within the country, is the clearest indication yet that the Beijing is moving away from its “zero tolerance” policy.
Thus, many of the changes announced by the National Health Commission (NHC) reflect measures already taken in many cities and regions in recent days, following protests against COVID controls, which have been the largest public outcry since when President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012.
The background of the decision
The policy changes were announced after Xi, who credits China’s relentless fight against COVID as one of his key achievements, presided over a meeting of the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo yesterday.
Major cities across China, including Beijing and Shanghai, saw protests last month that began to subside amid a heavy police presence and the lifting of various restrictions in various parts of the country.
Officials made no connection between the changes, either announced today or earlier, to the protests. But they have clearly softened their tone on the health risks of the virus — bringing China closer to what other countries have been saying for more than a year as they abandon restrictions and move toward a policy of living with the virus.
The looser approach has sparked strong buying interest in cough and fever medicines as some residents, particularly the unvaccinated elderly, feel more vulnerable to the virus that has been largely kept under control by Beijing’s strict policy.
Source: News Beast
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