Chinese capital gets ready for “life again” as countrywide lockdowns are lifted
Tuesday marked the latest easing of restrictions across the nation following last month’s historic rallies, with supermarkets and businesses no longer requiring customers to present negative COVID tests in order to enter.
A headline in the state-run China Daily newspaper stated, “Beijing readies itself for life anew,” adding that citizens were “gradually welcoming” the gradual return to normalcy.
After a series of protests last month that represented the largest display of popular unhappiness in mainland China since President Xi Jinping assumed office in 2012, further easing seems imminent.
Hu Dongxu, a 27-year-old resident of Beijing, said to Reuters as he swiped his travel card to enter a railway station in the city, which has also eliminated the requirement for tests to ride the subway, “This might be the first step towards healing from this pandemic.”
The change comes as senior authorities changed their stance on the infection’s seriousness, moving China closer to what other nations have been saying for more than a year as they relaxed regulations and decided to live with the illness.
As cities around the nation have been relaxing localized lockdowns, China may announce 10 new countrywide relaxation measures as early as Wednesday, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation who spoke to Reuters.
Investors are now more optimistic about a wider reopening of the second-largest economy in the world, which might accelerate global growth.
However, despite assurances from the authorities, commuter traffic in large cities like Beijing and Chongqing is still significantly lower than it was previously.
Many elderly people, many of whom are still unvaccinated, continue to be wary of contracting the virus, and there is also worry about the strain the loosening could place on China’s already precarious healthcare system.
Credit: Reuters