China: authorities begin to pave the way for an end to “zero Covid”

Chinese residents walk away after finding Covid test stations unexpectedly closed in Beijing, this Saturday, December 3, 2022. Chinese authorities announced this Saturday a further easing of Covid-19 restrictions in Shenzhen or Beijing.

AP - Ng Han Guan

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

In China, the end of “zero-Covid”, in place since the start of the pandemic, has not yet been recorded.

But since the protests against health restrictions that emanated across the country last week, highlighting the fed up of the local population, the authorities are starting to pave the way for the end of this strict policy, as evidenced by the video of an influencer who plays down his contamination with the Omicron variant.

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Zhong Wenze is followed by more than 2.5 million people on Weibo, China's Twitter.

In his videos, he likes to talk about the latest Apple products or his favorite dishes.

But his latest publication is of a completely different genre.

For fourteen minutes, he recounts his experience after being contaminated by the Omicron variant, in a reassuring and positive video.

During this period, we have no energy, we lie down, we take a nap, we wake up, we look at our smartphone and we go back to sleep.

That night, my temperature was 38°C.

The second and third days were the hardest, I almost spent two days in bed sleeping.

During these two days, it is really uncomfortable, but it lasts less and you recover faster than during a normal flu.

It's uncomfortable for two days, but it's really bearable.

It's hard to think that this sequence could have been published in recent weeks, when the "zero Covid" policy was still on the lips of all Chinese politicians.

Now, restrictions are timidly beginning to ease in Chinese cities and mentions of “zero Covid” are rare in the official press.

A sign that the authorities seem ready to turn the page, nearly three years after the start of the epidemic.

►Read again: China: dissatisfaction with health restrictions wins Beijing

“Zero Covid” in China: effective easing

In Beijing, this Saturday, December 3, many mobile anti-Covid screening centers were closed, negative tests no longer being necessary to go to certain stores such as supermarkets and, from Monday, to take the metro.

A negative test is still required to go to the office.

The city of Shenzhen has announced that it will no longer require testing for people accessing transport or parks, despite the fact that the number of cases is near its highest level since the start of the pandemic.

Shenzhen thus follows the example of Chengdu, or even Tianjin.

Without officially renouncing it, the authorities have begun to relax the “zero Covid” policy in recent weeks after recent demonstrations.

The security forces were still very visible this Saturday in certain districts of the capital and in Shanghai, to prevent any new demonstration.

The government should announce, according to Reuters, new measures to relax the testing policy, and allow positive people and contact cases to isolate themselves at home under conditions.

European officials said Thursday after an interview with Xi Jinping that he had told them that the Omicron variant, now the majority in China, allowed such relaxation.

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• China

• Coronavirus