China is apparently relaxing corona rules and allowing domestic quarantine - RKI reports 27,841 new infections

In China, despite the high number of new infections, more and more corona requirements are being relaxed. Test stations were closed and dismantled in the capital Beijing on Saturday. A negative test is no longer necessary for going to the supermarket, and from Monday the subway can also be used again without such proof. However, to enter offices and other buildings, it is still necessary to show that there is no corona infection. Long queues therefore continued to form at the remaining test stations. In Shenzhen, too, local public transport can be used again without a corona test, and access to parks is also possible without restrictions. The cities of Chengdu and Tianjin had already announced this.

Last weekend it had happened in many cities of China Protests against the strict interpretation of the zero covid policy given by President Xi Jinping. This is based in particular on comparatively long, strict lockdowns. However, this is slowing down the world’s second largest economy, and the growth expected for this year is likely to be one of the weakest in almost half a century. People are less and less willing to bow to the measures. The recent wave of civil disobedience has been unprecedented.

According to the Reuters news agency, China is preparing further easing. People who have tested positive for Corona should be allowed to isolate themselves at home under certain conditions. According to analysts, however, this is not a fundamental change in corona policy. A departure from the zero Covid strategy is not to be expected before March. One of the prerequisites is the success of the recently intensified vaccination campaign for the elderly. “It’s much more about optimizing and saving costs,” says an assessment by the economic research company Capital Economics. “The goal is still to bring the number of cases close to zero.”

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