Two cities in China have loosened some COVID restrictions after massive protests rocked the country in recent days.
The cities of Guangzhou and Chongqing said they will cut back on COVID restrictions following the outcry of citizens across the country. Chongqing will now permit close contacts of those who are infected with COVID to stay at home while they quarantine if they meet certain requirements, according to a city official. Guangzhou also said it will let up on the restrictions, but officials did not discuss the demonstrations. The area where violence broke out on Tuesday was still under strict rule. On Monday, protesters demolished a COVID testing site in Guangzhou, leading police to take action to scatter the groups of people.
China’s “zero-COVID” policy has been a key strategy in President Xi Jinping’s attempt to control the virus, but the intense restrictions and crackdowns on citizens appeared to be reaching a breaking point in recent days.
Health authorities in China also toned down their discussions of COVID, reportedly telling local governments not to take part in lockdowns that are long and unnecessary.
“International and domestic monitoring data confirmed that the pathogenicity and virulence of the Omicron mutant strains … are significantly weaker than the original strain and variant strains such as Delta,” Chang Zhaorui, a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told the press.
