Beijing: Millions of people in at least 21 cities don’t need a negative nucleic acid test (NAT) to access public transport, local media reports said on Monday as China continues to ease its stringent Covid-19 control measures amid widespread public discontent over the curbs.
More easing or “optimisation” of China’s ‘zero-Covid’ policy is expected later this week, social media reports indicated.
The sudden easing of strict NAT requirements has also led to confusion in cities like Beijing where many public testing facilities have been removed, leaving citizens uncertain about whether the tests are required at all.
The relaxation of rules on accessing public transport and venues was reported from many Chinese cities.
Cinema halls were reopened after months in the far western city of Urumqi; in Shenzhen in south China, NAT results were no longer required to enter supermarkets and communities; Shanghai withdrew the 72-hour negative test requirement to enter the subway and Shenyang in northeast China did the same.
Beijing commuters could board buses and subway trains without a NAT test taken in the previous 48 hours for the first time in months on Monday though in-restaurant dining remained suspended and a large number of offices continued with the ‘work from home’ policy.
Under “daily optimisation’’ measures, “…at least 21 cities across the country have announced that they will no longer check negative nucleic acid certificates in subways,” the Shanghai-based news portal, The Paper, reported Monday evening.
The southern city of Guangzhou in south China reopened markets and businesses for the first time in weeks and lifted most curbs on movement.
In most cities targeted restrictions continued in communities and neighbourhoods with positive Covid-19 cases.
The focus is gradually shifting from NAT to RAT or ‘rapid antigen tests’ with local government’s beginning to encourage a self-testing regime, reported the news website, Caixin.
“Health experts have suggested that China increase the use of rapid antigen test kits (RATs) so people can self-administer the tests at home. Already widely used around the world, RATs were approved in China only in March only as a supplement to nucleic acid testing,” the Caixin report said.
Netizens speculated that more easing of Covid-19 controls could be announced soon with Covid-19 prevention measures downgraded from “A” to “B” category.
Former deputy director of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Feng Zijian, told The Paper that China should allow mild and asymptomatic Covid patients to isolate at home to ease pressure on the country’s health infrastructure.
The complete withdrawal of all measures under China’s ‘zero-Covid’ policy, however, will take time, perhaps several months.
“China is not ready for a fast reopening yet,” the Associated Press reported Morgan Stanley economists as saying in a report on Monday. “We expect lingering containment measures. … Restrictions could still tighten dynamically in lower-tier cities should hospitalisations surge,” the report said.
