China has rolled back rules on isolating people with COVID-19 and dropped virus test requirements for some public places.
A resident pulls away a mask during COVID test in Beijing, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. In a sharp reversal, China has announced a series of measures rolling back some of the most draconian anti-COVID-19 restrictions. – China rolled back rules on isolating people with COVID-19 and dropped virus test requirements for some public places Wednesday in a dramatic change to a strategy that confined millions of people to their homes and sparked protests and demands for President Xi Jinping to resign.
The easing is in line with promises to reduce the human cost of “zero COVID,” including changes announced before the protests that included shorter quarantines for travelers from abroad. The latest moves have been highly publicized — a possible effort toUnder the new rules, people with mild cases will be allowed for the first time to isolate at home instead of going to sometimes overcrowded or unsanitary quarantine centers.
“We will look at it, study and judge, and analyze again,” said Liang, one of China’s most prominent anti-epidemic experts. The changes have been rolled out despite a renewed spike in infections started in October. On Wednesday, the government reported 25,231 new cases, including 20,912 without symptoms.
China is the last major country still trying to do that while the United States and other governments have eased travel and other curbs. Rules were left in place that warn apartment and office buildings might be sealed if infections are found. Complaints that families are confined for weeks at a time with uncertain access to food and medicine were a key driver of the protests.
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