China extends easing of restrictions against Covid, and population celebrates

Amid protests against the Covid-zero policy, China extended this Saturday (3) the easing of quarantine and isolation rules that entities such as the WHO classify as unsustainable. In the country’s capital, Beijing, tents used for mass testing have been removed. In Shenzhen, to the south, officials said they would no longer be required to show a test to travel.

The measures signal changes in the face of the health crisis despite the increase in cases in Chinese megacities, such as Shanghai and Gaungzhou. This week, the country’s deputy prime minister Sun Chunlan promised a “more humane approach” in handling the pandemic.

In Beijing, the removal of the structures was celebrated by the population. A video that recorded employees dismantling tents used for mass testing has gone viral on Chinese social network Weibo. “This should have been taken down earlier,” says one person on the recording. “Banned to history,” adds another. The images could not be independently verified.

With fewer test sites available, there have been complaints about long queues at the remaining structures. Residents of the capital no longer need to prove that they are free of the disease to enter supermarkets. In the second (5), the same rule should be applied in the subway. But the presentation of a negative test result remains mandatory in other places, such as offices.

There was also easing in Shenzhen. In addition to no longer being required to present a test to travel, authorities have announced that exams will also no longer be required for access to public transport or parks. Other Chinese cities such as Chengdu (southwest) and Tianjin (northeast) have adopted similar measures.

If there was relaxation in the quarantine rules, the same did not happen in relation to the repression of protests. Police maintain a strong contingent in the Liangmaqiao region, east of Beijing, the scene of large demonstrations in recent days. The objective is to inhibit the performance of new acts.

There is also ostensive policing in Urumqi, in western China, where a fire killed ten people in isolation and motivated the biggest wave of demonstrations in the country’s recent history, with criticism of the Covid-zero policy and also of the Xi Jinping regime, recently elevated to an unprecedented third term.

Although on a smaller scale, however, the protests continue — even with creative and unusual ways to circumvent the repression and censorship of the dictatorship. In response, China is expected to announce further easing measures in the coming days, according to Reuters news agency.

On Thursday (1st), during a meeting with European Union authorities in Beijing, Xi said that the protests were stimulated by frustration, especially among young people, after years of the pandemic, but that the fact that the omicron variant is less lethal makes it possible to relax the rules from quarantine.

A day later, on Friday, residents of Beijing received messages on social networks with guidelines for infected people to isolate themselves at home. The measure was considered a milestone since it was not recommended to send patients to the central quarantine, in which people were separated from the family to avoid transmission in the home and taken to government facilities.

The repression of the protests was criticized by the international community. This Friday, a letter signed by 42 US lawmakers recalled the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

“We warn the Communist Party of China in the strongest possible terms against any further violent crackdowns against peaceful protesters who simply want more freedom,” read an excerpt from the document sent to Beijing’s ambassador to Washington, Qin Gang. Earlier, US diplomatic chief Antony Blinken said China’s crackdown was a sign of weakness in the communist regime.

The easing, however, is viewed with caution, and it is still too early to speak of the end of Covid zero. Authorities are working to live with an increase in the number of Covid cases without it resulting in harsh containment measures or an explosive growth in the number of deaths.

Analysts quoted by the Reuters news agency say a significant reopening until March is unlikely, as China recently launched a vaccination campaign for the elderly.

China reported 32,827 new Covid-19 infections on Saturday, up from 34,772 the previous day. As of Friday, the country had 5,233 deaths related to the disease.