Beijing: Shoppers return to the mall Beijing On Sunday, the Chinese capital eased pandemic restrictions after declaring a small but persistent COVID-19 outbreak effectively under control.
The partial reopening of shops and offices in Beijing was welcomed by an exhausted population and struggling shoppers eager to return to normalcy of life.
Along with the gradual easing of restrictions ShanghaiIt signaled that the worst of the twin outbreaks in China’s most major cities were over.
Lockdowns and other restrictions under China’s “zero-Covid” strategy have increasingly frustrated residents as they watch other countries reopen and reopen their borders.
Some have protested and staged protests in apartment complexes and university dorms, in an authoritarian country where people think twice about speaking in public because of the potential repercussions.
Restaurants in Beijing remain closed, except for takeout and delivery, and many people in Shanghai can still go out only with special passes and for a limited time period, even though the number of new cases has dwindled.
Officials bolster precautions under a system that penalizes them for easy enforcement when an outbreak flares up or comes back.
China reported 293 new cases on Saturday, of which 78 were among those who had come from abroad.
Shanghai had the most non-imported cases, with 122, and Beijing had 21. It houses a population of over 20 million people in both cities.
Beijing on Sunday allowed public parks, gyms and cinemas to reopen at 50 percent of their capacity. Part of the Great Wall in rural Beijing, some 60 kilometers from the city, reopened to visitors on Monday.
City spokesman Xu Heijian said on Saturday that sporadic cases were still being reported in some districts, but they were within a controllable limit. “This phase of the outbreak has been effectively brought under control,” he said.
The partial reopening of shops and offices in Beijing was welcomed by an exhausted population and struggling shoppers eager to return to normalcy of life.
Along with the gradual easing of restrictions ShanghaiIt signaled that the worst of the twin outbreaks in China’s most major cities were over.
Lockdowns and other restrictions under China’s “zero-Covid” strategy have increasingly frustrated residents as they watch other countries reopen and reopen their borders.
Some have protested and staged protests in apartment complexes and university dorms, in an authoritarian country where people think twice about speaking in public because of the potential repercussions.
Restaurants in Beijing remain closed, except for takeout and delivery, and many people in Shanghai can still go out only with special passes and for a limited time period, even though the number of new cases has dwindled.
Officials bolster precautions under a system that penalizes them for easy enforcement when an outbreak flares up or comes back.
China reported 293 new cases on Saturday, of which 78 were among those who had come from abroad.
Shanghai had the most non-imported cases, with 122, and Beijing had 21. It houses a population of over 20 million people in both cities.
Beijing on Sunday allowed public parks, gyms and cinemas to reopen at 50 percent of their capacity. Part of the Great Wall in rural Beijing, some 60 kilometers from the city, reopened to visitors on Monday.
City spokesman Xu Heijian said on Saturday that sporadic cases were still being reported in some districts, but they were within a controllable limit. “This phase of the outbreak has been effectively brought under control,” he said.