China’s megacity Chongqing says people with Covid can go to work ‘as normal’

Hong Kong
CNN
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The sprawling Chinese city of Chongqing announced on Sunday that public sector employees had tested positive COVID-19 It can go about business “as usual,” a remarkable shift for a city that just weeks ago was in the throes of a mass lockdown.

The move comes as China continues to rapidly unravel its strict policy on not spreading the coronavirus, with local governments across the country relaxing costly rules on testing, quarantine and other epidemic policies amid a broad economic slowdown.

“Employees of (the Communist Party), government organizations at all levels, and enterprises and institutions can go to work normally after taking preventive measures as necessary for their health condition and job requirements,” the Chongqing Epidemic Response Bureau said. he said in a statement Posted on the municipal government website.

She added that government agencies are no longer screening employees – including police, public school teachers and other workers – for daily negative Covid tests. Instead, the authorities will shift the focus of work from preventing infection to protecting health and preventing severe disease.

The sudden turn is particularly stunning in Chongqing, one of China’s largest cities, with a population of 32 million and an annual GDP of $400 billion.

Jerry Cheng, who works for a state-owned construction company in the city and is currently down with Covid, expressed concerns about the ad.

“I won’t go unless they call my name,” he told CNN. “It’s definitely not a good idea for a group of infected people to work together,” he said, adding that the new policy is to protect the local economy.

Cheng’s concern was reflected on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, on Monday as Chongqing residents responded to the announcement.

“Why do you need to go and infect healthy people?” Read one comment. Another user wrote: “This goes from one extreme to the other.”

Several other places in China, including the eastern city of Wuhu and Zhejiang Province, also announced similar measures this week.

Chongqing, a hub of industry and agriculture, became a Covid hotspot last month. More than a million people have been told not to leave the city unless absolutely necessary, and several rounds of mass testing have been carried out daily.

When Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan visited Chongqing on November 22, she urged local authorities to take “Quick and decisive actionto contain the outbreak by identifying positive cases and their contacts, according to the state-run Global Times outlet.

But by then, some residents had run out of patience. Three years from zero covid It took its toll on the economy, disrupting daily life and people’s livelihoods.

Pictures disappeared from Chongqing Viral online in august, showing huge crowds standing in the sun for hours during a record heat wave as they wait for mandatory Covid tests. In the background, plumes of smoke from wildfires rose above the horizon.

Reflecting growing frustration, a Chongqing resident gave an incendiary speech in late November criticizing the closure of his apartment complex, shouting to a jubilant crowd: “Without freedom, I’d rather die!”

Nationwide protests against the zero Covid policy – and, in some cases, against the central leadership itself – erupted after a few days, suggesting The most important challenge The Communist Party and Chinese leader Xi Jinping for decades.

The country’s rapid rollback of Covid restrictions came soon after. And while relaxing the rules, such as allowing Covid patients to isolate at home instead of taking them to a government quarantine center, is a long-awaited relief for many, skyrocketing cases It also sparked widespread concern among a population that has been largely protected from the virus since 2020.

According to CNN calculations based on A Study from Hong Kong researchers Released last week, the country’s Covid death toll could reach nearly a million during its reopening.