BEIJING: After anger over the world’s toughest restrictions morphed into nationwide protests, China is easing some coronavirus restrictions and softening its tone on the severity of Covid-19, even as its daily case count approaches records.
Despite continuing to report infections, a number of the world’s second-largest cities are defying tradition by lifting district lockdowns and allowing businesses to reopen.
The protests, which ranged from candle-lit vigils in Beijing to clashes with police on the streets of Guangzhou on Tuesday and at an iPhone factory in Zhengzhou last week, were not mentioned by health authorities in those announcements.
The demonstrations were the largest act of civil disobedience since President Xi Jinping came to power a decade ago, and they occurred at a time when the economy is about to enter a new era with much slower growth rates than in previous decades.
State media reported that despite near-record numbers of cases, Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, who oversees Covid efforts, stated that the virus’s capacity to spread disease was decreasing.
According to Sun, “the country is facing a new situation and new tasks in epidemic prevention and control as the pathogenicity of the Omicron virus weakens, more people are vaccinated, and experience is accumulated in containing the virus.”
Sun also advocated for testing, treatment, and quarantine policies to be “optimized” further.
The earlier statements made by authorities regarding the virus’s imminentness contrast with the mention of decreasing pathogenicity.
