Life in Beijing returns to normal after easing of strict Covid restrictions

Picture source - AP

Life in China’s capital Beijing has returned to normal after strict Covid-19 restrictions were eased following unprecedented protests against the extremely strict lockdown.
A day earlier Beijing National Health Commission (NHC) had announced the easing of strict corona restrictions and according to the new guidelines people with mild symptoms of the corona were allowed to stay in home quarantine as well as the pace of PCR testing was reduced and the lockdown was also eased.

The country’s top health body has said that the shift in strategy was intended to help the country keep abreast of the changing times and represented a significant relaxation of President Xi Jinping’s flagship pandemic policy.

In Beijing where citizens were confined to their homes and businesses and educational institutions were also closed due to the rising cases of Corona traffic has returned to normal after the announcement of new Covid-19 guidelines.

Under the new guidelines, the lengthy procedure for PCR testing was relaxed.

However, the number of testing services in Beijing has decreased but some centres still have testing services. Many workplaces still have been requiring negative tests. Such workplaces include the hotel and catering industry where testing has been maintained obligatory.

Businesses were open but there weren’t many people around. Guards had been checking visitors’ health codes although they weren’t any more required to have negative Covid tests, according to Chinese media reports.