The Chinese government has eased the policy after nationwide protests broke out against the zero-coronavirus policy.
In China, reports from China have pushed people to the brink of desperation due to the government’s continuous attacks on the government over the past three years, such as a series of lockdowns, corona tests and intensive surveillance, and lack of freedom. The zero-Covid policy has been strictly followed in Beijing, the capital of China. Even though the corona protection measures and general shutdown are more strictly followed in China than other countries, the impact of the infection is increasing day by day and has aroused public dissatisfaction and opposition to the government’s actions.
In this case, Chinese President Xi Jinping has unexpectedly faced waves of public protest. Thousands of citizens in various cities of China have come out in protest against the zero-corona policy. While it is generally difficult to protest against the government in China, citizens who have been locked in for nearly three years under enforced restrictions took to the streets to protest. As a result of this fight, the Chinese government has now relaxed its zero-coronavirus policy.
Businesses have reopened and tests have been relaxed everywhere, including in China’s capital, Beijing. Local authorities have implemented relaxations from a series of restrictions imposed over the past few years in compliance with a central government mandate. The country’s government is currently looking for new approaches to fight the coronavirus.
A lot of commercial sites have opened in the Chinese capital, Beijing. And especially passengers using public transport are no longer required to show a virus negative certificate taken within 48 hours. In the commercial center of Shanghai, which underwent a strict lockdown for two months this year, residents have been allowed to visit public places such as parks and tourist attractions without a corona certificate.
Supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and ski resorts have been allowed to open in the northeastern city of Urumqi, where anti-corona protests have erupted.
Xinjiang, China’s western region of more than four million people, has been hit by a long, severe lockdown. Some areas there were closed from August to November. China’s Ugan province and Shandong, where the first cases of the virus were detected in 2019, have also eased the rules for testing passengers using public transport.
In Shengzhou, home to the world’s largest iPhone manufacturing factory, people are allowed to go to public places and use public transport without a corona negative certificate taken within 48 hours. The World Health Organization (WHO) has praised China’s move to relax its coronavirus restrictions.
While China has eased some of its Covid-19 rules, security patrols have been ramped up to quell rallies. Also online censorship and monitoring of people has been increased. Corona testing centers have been closed in many places as regulations have been relaxed in major Chinese cities. Due to this, people have to wait in long queues even in the cold to get tested for corona virus at many places for other needs.
More specifically, the rule that students cannot go to schools without a corona negative certificate taken within 24 hours is still in force. What is the use of closing the corona testing centers without removing the entire regulations? People are complaining. It is noteworthy that 29,724 people have been infected with Corona in China today.