Beijing residents on Saturday cheered the removal of COVID-19 testing booths while Shenzhen said it would no longer require commuters to present test results to travel, as an easing of China's virus curbs gathered pace.
A pandemic prevention worker in a protective suit keeps watch at at residential compound after it was locked down as outbreaks of COVID-19 continue in Beijing, November 18, 2022. Some cities are loosening COVID-19 testing requirements. REUTERS/ Thomas Peter
The southern city of Shenzhen announced it would no longer require people to show a negative COVID test result to use public transport or enter parks, following similar moves by Chengdu and Tianjin. "This should have been taken away earlier!," said one commentator. "Banished to history," said another.
Then a deadly apartment fire last month in the far western city of Urumqi sparked dozens of protests against COVID curbs in a wave unprecedented in mainland China since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.China is set to further announce a nationwide reduction in testing requirements as well as allowing positive cases and close contacts to isolate at home under certain conditions, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier this week.
On Friday, some Beijing neighborhoods posted guidelines on social media on how positive cases can be quarantined at home, a landmark move that marks a break from official guidance to send such people to central quarantine. Estimates for how many deaths China could see if it pivots to a full reopening have ranged from 1.3 million to over 2 million though some researchers said the death toll could be reduced sharply if there was a focus on vaccination.
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