In a move that took many by surprise, China announced a potentially far-reaching relaxation of its tough “zero COVID” restrictions, without formally abandoning the policy altogether.
It’s unclear what exactly prompted the move, though it comes after the biggest show of public dissent against the ruling Communist Party in more than 30 years by residents fed up with constant diagnostic tests, quarantines, travel restrictions, ongoing lockdowns and business closures.
Here’s a look at the changes known as the “Ten New Requirements” announced on Wednesday.
_____
WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT CHANGES?
Among the most significant changes is one that allows people who test positive for COVID-19 but have no or only mild symptoms to recover at home instead of being forced to check into one of the government’s field hospitals. hour lights and poor food and hygiene.
Where cases are discovered, lockdowns will be limited to specific apartment buildings or floors. Previously, such blocks covered communities, districts and even entire cities. Widespread lockdowns were a significant factor behind protests in Shanghai and other cities in the spring.
The authorities have reduced the requirement to present a “health code” in a smartphone application, which tracks the diagnostic tests the user has undergone and the user’s proximity to areas considered to be at high risk of infection, and view test results .
Health codes will still be required for ‘special places’, including schools, hospitals and care homes. This leads to considerable ambiguity. As of Thursday, some restaurants in Shanghai and Beijing had yet to submit a negative diagnostic test taken within the past 48 hours for dining indoors.
One problem with the change: Centers that have been providing free immediate PCR tests with results available the next day are getting harder to find.
_____
WHAT ELSE HAS CHANGED?
Other easing is more subtle, but still significant, such as the duration of lockdowns, which can only be extended by five days if no new cases are detected. This is a major change from dead-end lockdowns that could go on for weeks and leave residents without information or the ability to plan ahead.
Restrictions on the sale of cold and cough medicines are also lifted. During the height of the pandemic, those over-the-counter drugs could only be purchased through a lengthy application process. While never clearly spelled out, the rules were thought to be aimed at those trying to hide COVID-19 symptoms to avoid being tested and quarantined. Simply going to a pharmacy meant risking activating the smartphone’s health code app, resulting in a visit from health authorities and police clad in hazmat suits.
Greater emphasis is also being placed on providing vaccinations and booster shots for older people, and more attention will be paid to members of the population with cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other underlying factors that may increase vulnerability to COVID-19.
Local governments are also prohibited from suspending commercial activity and public transport in areas not considered to be at risk. It is also forbidden to block emergency exits, an apparent reference to an apartment fire in the western city of Urumqi last month that helped spark street protests. In theory, this would prevent some of the more extreme measures taken to keep people in their homes, such as locking doors from the outside, welding steel bars into passageways and fencing off entire communities.
Schools without cases will need to return to face-to-face classes, and emergency patients without a recent negative diagnostic test can no longer be barred from going to hospital.
_____
WHAT IS THE EFFECT ON CHINA’S SOCIETY, ECONOMY AND POLITICS?
The implementation of the new measures is likely to take time and leave a lot of leeway to keep some restrictions in place. Communities whose health resources are barely adequate at best will likely be the last to abandon what they see as the last line of defense against potentially overwhelming outbreaks.
In cities, the effect seems to have been more immediate. Subways and buses in Beijing, Shanghai and other major cities are filled with commuters returning to the office.
But the new requirements don’t affect international travel. China’s borders remain largely closed as the rest of the world opens up, although the country has reduced the quarantine time for international arrivals from seven to five days at a designated location, followed by three days of self-isolation at the place of residence .
Politically, the easing of regulations could ease pressure on the regime of President Xi Jinping, considered China’s most authoritarian leader since Mao Zedong, and who recently won a third five-year term. Xi has no time limit on his term and has filled the top ranks of the party with his loyalists, but the street protests were a reminder of the limits of public patience.
______
WHERE IS “ZERO COVID” GOING?
The “zero COVID” policy has been touted as Xi’s success, and the party is reluctant to back down or admit mistakes, so some have floated the idea that China will gradually adopt a “zero COVID” approach in name only . This would give Beijing the authority to reimpose controls as it sees fit and punish opponents and critics among the general public, intellectuals, the business community and even athletes.
In an editorial on the latest regulations – the ninth set China published since the start of the pandemic at the end of 2019 – the Communist Party newspaper Global Times adopted a victorious tone, without acknowledging errors or excesses.
“We can say that we have overcome the most difficult moments,” says the newspaper. “After nearly three years of exceptionally difficult ‘national struggle against the epidemic’, countless people have made sacrifices, endured hardships and worked hard to win this battle.”
