Beijing, Shanghai ease COVID restrictions as outbreaks fade

BEIJING

Shoppers returned to the malls of Beijing yesterday as the Chinese capital relaxed pandemic restrictions after declaring a small but persistent COVID-19 outbreak effectively under control.

A partial reopening of stores and offices in Beijing was welcomed by a weary populace and struggling shopkeepers eager for life to return to normal. Coupled with a gradual easing of restrictions in Shanghai, it signaled that the worst is over in the twin outbreaks in China’s most prominent cities.

The lockdowns and other restrictions under China’s “zero-COVID” strategy have increasingly frustrated residents as they see other countries ease up and re-open their borders.

Restaurants remain closed in Beijing, except for takeout and delivery, and many people in Shanghai still can only go out with special passes and for a limited time period, even as the number of new cases has plummeted.

Officials tend to err on the side of caution under a system that readily punishes them for lax enforcement if outbreaks flare up or come back.

Beijing allowed public parks, gyms and cinemas to reopen on yesterday, all at 50 percent of their capacity. A portion of the Great Wall in a rural part of Beijing, about 60 kilometers from downtown, reopens to visitors on Monday.

Xu Hejian, a city spokesperson, said that sporadic cases are still being found in some districts, but they are within a controllable range. “This round of outbreak has been put under effective control,”he said.