BEIJING, Dec 2 (Reuters) – Some communities in Chinese cities where COVID-19 is still spreading are easing testing requirements and quarantine rules ahead of an expected change in virus policies across the country. country after widespread social unrest.
The uneven relaxation of COVID restrictions is, however, fueling fear among some residents who suddenly feel more exposed to a disease that authorities had consistently described as deadly until this week.
Pharmacies in Beijing say purchases of N95 masks, which offer a much higher degree of protection than the disposable surgical type, have increased this week. Some people wearing N95s on Friday said they got them from their employers.
Such cautious behavior bodes ill for consumer-facing businesses and factories in big cities hit by COVID-19, whose workers hope to stay virus-free at least until they return to their families in the countryside for the Lunar New Year.
The elderly, many of whom are still unvaccinated, feel more vulnerable.
Shi Wei, a Beijing resident suffering from lymphatic cancer, spends most of his time in isolation, but still worries about contracting COVID and giving it to his 80-year-old mother when she goes out for hospital treatment every three weeks.
“I can only pray that God will protect me,” he said.
China’s COVID policies have battered its economy, stifling everything from domestic consumption, to factory output, to global supply chains, and causing severe mental stress to hundreds of millions of people .
Anger over the world’s toughest curbs fueled dozens of protests in more than 20 cities in recent days in a show of civil disobedience unprecedented in mainland China since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.
Less than 24 hours after people clashed with riot police wearing white hazmat suits in Guangzhou, a sprawling manufacturing hub north of Hong Kong, the city lifted lockdowns in at least seven of its districts. Some communities now require less frequent testing and allow close contacts of infected people to quarantine at home, according to state media.
But the uneven loosening of rules in the city is causing other kinds of problems for its residents.
“I’m going on vacation tomorrow and I’ve had to look for a place to get tested for COVID because I still need a 48-hour code to get to the airport, but most of the testing stations have been removed,” she said. say a diplomat from a foreign consulate. in Guangzhou.
SOFT TONE
Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, who is overseeing the COVID effort, said this week that the virus’s ability to cause disease was weakening, a message that aligns with what health authorities around the world have been saying for more of one year
Although government authorities in cities that have lifted the lockdowns did not mention the protests in their announcements, national health officials have said China will address “urgent concerns” expressed by the public.
China will announce a national easing of quarantine and testing requirements, sources told Reuters, in what many hope will be more uniform implementation.
The measures include a reduction in the use of mass testing and regular nucleic acid testing, as well as measures to allow positive cases and close contacts to self-isolate at home under certain conditions, sources familiar with the matter said .
On the ground, however, some communities in Beijing and elsewhere have already allowed close contacts of people carrying the virus to self-quarantine at home, while some shopping malls in the capital have reopened as of Thursday.
A residential community in eastern Beijing sent out a notice on Friday to say that those without “social activities,” such as the elderly and infants confined to their homes, no longer need to be tested regularly “to reduce the risk of ‘overcrowding’.
Several testing booths in the area have stopped working and the number of people being tested has dropped by 20 to 30 percent, a testing staff member said. Even so, the nearby park remained closed, while restaurants and cafes only sold takeaway food.
Earlier this year, entire communities were locked down, sometimes for weeks, even after a single positive case, with people locked inside losing income, with poor access to basic needs and struggling to cope mentally with isolation.
IMPLEMENTATION TRIGGERED
Some areas of Guangzhou resumed dinner services and residents are no longer required to present negative PCR tests to enter, state media reported.
Around Shenzhen, some people will be able to self-quarantine at home. About a thousand kilometers to the west, in Chongqing, a wide range of businesses were allowed to resume this week, from barbershops to gyms.
In Chengdu, Sichuan province, passengers no longer needed negative results to board the bus or subway. In Jincheng, which is halfway between Beijing and Shanghai, people can now enter karaoke bars, but still cannot dine in restaurants.
At the same time, many communities in areas designated as high-risk by several cities remain under lockdown and many people still have to undergo daily testing.
“The elevated mood is not universal,” said the Guangzhou-based diplomat. “While many people are enjoying new freedom, it’s worth noting that there are still hundreds of high-risk areas closed across the city.”
Additional reporting by Eduardo Baptista, Albee Zhang and Ryan Woo in Beijing; Written by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Michael Perry
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