China to ease quarantine, testing in nationwide loosening of Covid restrictions

Issued on: 07/12/2022 – 07:16

Under the new guidelines unveiled by Beijing’s National Health Commission (NHC), “asymptomatic infected persons and mild cases who are eligible for home isolation are generally isolated at home” and the country will “further reduce the scope of nucleic acid testing and reduce testing frequency”.

China began softening its tone last week and easing some coronavirus restrictions even as its daily case toll hovered near record highs, after anger over the world’s toughest curbs fuelled protests across the country.

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Several cities in the world’s second-largest economy began breaking with practice by lifting district lockdowns and allowing businesses to reopen.

Health authorities announcing the relaxation of measures did not mention the protests, which ranged from candle-lit vigils in Beijing to clashes with the police on the streets of Guangzhou and at an iPhone factory in Zhengzhou last week.

The demonstrations marked the biggest show of civil disobedience in mainland China since President Xi Jinping took power a decade ago and come as the economy is set to enter a new era of much slower growth than seen in decades.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)