Several Chinese cities today eased their zero-covid restrictions. Observers say President Xi appears to be backtracking on very strict policies that have kept large parts of the country isolated for nearly three years and have wreaked havoc on China’s economy.
In the cities of Shenzhen and Shanghai, commuters suddenly no longer have to submit PCR test results if they want to use public transport. Tianjin, Chengdu and Chongqing took similar steps. In Beijing, residents of apartment complexes heard that they can quarantine at home from today if the result is positive; they no longer have to go to the criticized and strict quarantine centers.
The authorities in Shanghai say the measures will be “further optimized and adapted” in line with national policies and the situation. It seems more and more that China is actually letting go of its zero-covid policy. At the beginning of this year, draconian measures were taken. The more than 23 million inhabitants of Shanghai then faced a strict lockdown, which ultimately lasted two months.
Discreet
This reversal of the strictest policies in the world is done more or less discreetly at the highest level of government. No statement has been issued by the Standing Committee of the Politburo. China’s vice premier and counter-coronavirus chief Sun Chunlan said last week – and unexpectedly – that the country’s health system had “passed the test of Covid-19” and that China was “in a new situation”.
Observers tend to say that the Chinese regime has been shocked by the many protests against the lockdowns. It was not dissidents or other opponents of the regime who took to the streets, but thousands of ordinary Chinese who simply can’t stand the restrictive measures anymore. The economy has been at a loss in many parts of the country since corona.
Rising anger over China’s zero-covid restrictions has sent a wave of discontent across many regions in recent days, with residents of health-locked cities like Shanghai and Wuhan leading the way. A fire in the city of Urumqi, which killed ten people, added fuel to the fire because some victims would also not have dared to flee due to lockdown rules.
To care
However, there are also concerns about the policy being abandoned. The relaxations come at a time when the number of infections is actually rising. China reported 31,824 infections on Sunday for tests conducted on Saturday.
Chinese administrators are now mainly concerned about the low vaccination rate among the elderly. Only 40 percent of people aged 80 or older would have received the necessary three injections. It has also been found that the initially celebrated Chinese vaccines Sinopharm and Sinovac offer much less protection than Western counterparts. China refuses to use it.
The country is ill-prepared for a wave of deadly corona infections that it could soon face, says Linda Bauld, professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh on the site of the British newspaper The Guardian. Chinese doctors and hospitals were overwhelmed in early 2020 as the disease swept through the city of Wuhan at the start of the pandemic. The grim scenes of those early days could be repeated as the virus ripples through an unprotected population, Bauld fears.
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