Corona restrictions announced in Guangzhou, China’s 5th most populous city, were withdrawn following public protests.
A large number of people protested in the city on Tuesday night against the strict corona restrictions of the Chinese government.
There was a clash between the police and the protestors who went to disperse them. Due to this there was tension in the city.
In this situation, the authorities suddenly announced on Wednesday afternoon that they will relax the lockdown restrictions.
Official sources said:
Most of the city of Guangzhou is lifting the lockdown restrictions that were announced to prevent the spread of the corona virus.
In those areas where the risk of disease transmission is not high, such restrictions have been announced temporarily.
Apart from this, the corona tests which were being carried out in large numbers for the city residents are also being stopped, the officials said.
However, it seems that the lockdown restrictions will continue in some parts of the city where the spread of Corona is high.
Following this announcement, security was withdrawn in various parts of the city and people immediately started leaving those areas with their belongings to other parts, residents said.
Corona, which has been shaking the world for 2 years, has spread to other countries from China. However, due to the strict measures taken by China against the disease, the number of corona cases and deaths in China is very low compared to countries including the United States.
Although China’s success in controlling the spread of the corona virus has been praised, the strict measures taken by the country’s government have come under criticism.
China continues to implement the ‘Zero Corona’ policy, which involves intensive measures such as infection testing, contact tracing and isolation, until the number of newly confirmed cases of corona in a specific area is zero.
In spite of this, the spread of corona virus has been intensifying throughout China in recent times, and the number of confirmed cases of the disease has reached an all-time high.
After that, the Chinese government tightened the corona restrictions in various cities of the country. In this context, 10 people died last week in an apartment fire in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Autonomous Region. It is alleged that the death was caused by authorities preventing people from leaving the building due to corona restrictions.
After that, there is an active protest against the corona virus all over the country. This is the biggest protest in China since the 1989 pro-democracy protests that claimed hundreds of lives.
As part of that protest, a protest was also held in Guangzhou on Tuesday night. As a result, the authorities have now announced that they will relax the lockdown restrictions in the city.
It is noteworthy that this announcement has been made despite the fact that about 7,000 people have been confirmed to have corona in Guangzhou city alone on Tuesday.