Friday, March 29

China abandons some key measures of its “zero-COVID” policy


China has announced a series of measures to relax some of its toughest restrictions against COVID-19. The easing comes after recent street protests in various cities against the “zero-COVID” policy, during which some calls for the resignation of Xi Jinping were also heard.

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In a ten-point announcement, the National Health Commission has said that, with the exception of places like hospitals, nursing homes and schools, it will not be necessary to show a PCR test to enter public places, a requirement that has remained in place in the past. recent months in the Asian country and that some cities had already begun to relax in recent days after registering protests.

The Associated Press Agency reports that the size of lockdowns has also been limited to individual flats and buildingsinstead of entire districts and neighborhoods, and schools with no known cases are ordered to resume face-to-face classes.

Some asymptomatic infected and with mild symptoms of COVID “that meet certain conditions” will be allowed to isolate themselves in their homes instead of being confined in hospitals and isolation centers, as has been the case for almost three years, reports the EFE agency.

Among the new measures, the prohibition of “obstructing doors” also stands out, a practice that has been common these years in China in buildings with infected people and that has caused protests due to the dangers it entails. At the end of November, the death of ten people in a fire in a residential building in Urumqi (west) was attributed to an alleged blockage of escape routes. Although the authorities denied it, the outrage unleashed a wave of protests that spread throughout the country.

In addition, the closures will not be able to last more than five days unless new cases are discovered, and restrictions on cold medicines will be lifted and vaccination of the elderly will be intensified.

Relaxation from “zero-COVID”

Faced with those who celebrate the relaxation of the strict ‘zero COVID’ policy, another part of the population defends that the country continue to cling to that strategy for fear of an increase in infections.

COVID-19 cases in China have fallen from a daily record of more than 40,000 in recent days to 25,321 this Wednesday, the vast majority of them asymptomatic.

Apart from these new measures, the authorities have been gradually reducing restrictions for days. On Monday, for the first time in months, Beijing commuters from other cities were allowed to board buses and subways without having been tested for the virus in the previous 48 hours. Also, some industrial centers such as Canton (Guangzhou) have reopened shops and markets, and have lifted restrictions on movement, except for neighborhoods with infected people, AP reports.

In recent days, the Chinese authorities had already stated that the “conditions” are in place for the country to “adjust” its measures in this “new situation” in which the virus causes fewer deaths. However, the Government continues to defend its “zero-COVID” policy and claims that it has saved millions of lives thanks to it.



www.eldiario.es