Protests force China's pandemic U-turn

From Zero-COVID to reopening the borders, the Chinese government was compelled to take a slew of major decisions in the wake of massive people's unrest.

Beijing, Dec 27: After nearly three years of intense pandemic border restrictions, China announced that it will end quarantine measures for foreign visitors, the clearest and most significant sign yet that Beijing is moving away from its strict Zero-COVID approach that prompted a wave of anti-government protests across the country.

Here are some of the biggest decisions taken by the Chinese government so far.

Reopens its borders

In an online post, China's National Health Commission stated that the country will scrap quarantine measures for overseas arrivals starting Jan 8. The travellers would only need to have a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test done 48 hours prior to their trip in order to enter China. The lifting of quarantine for international travellers is considered to be a major step for China as it reopens its borders and comes out of international isolation.

Previously passengers coming from abroad had to mandatorily stay in over two weeks of quarantine in government accommodations, which was gradually reduced to five days with three days' of observation, as reported by the media.

Downgrades management level

The Commission also announced that COVID-19 management will be downgraded from Class A to B starting next month. Officials argue that Omicron variants were not as lethal as the Delta strain, which caused massive casualties all over the world.

COVID-19 has been managed as a top category 'A' infectious disease since 2020, putting it at par with bubonic plague and cholera, the Hong Kong-based 'South China Morning Post' reported. Under Chinese laws, authorities must impose the toughest restrictions such as quarantine and isolation of the infected and their close contacts, and lockdowns to contain those diseases. At the border, the infected must be isolated and those who might be infected quarantined, depending on the incubation period.

Scraps QR codes

Since the coronavirus outbreak, life in China was dictated by QR codes. China had used health QR codes to track individuals' health statuses and recorded people's movements in public spaces across the country. The colour codes were red, yellow or green. A green health code allows you to move around freely while yellow or red requires self-isolation. However, under the new guidelines the itinerary code was scrapped, which means that people will be able to enter most places without showing a negative test result or their health code.

Meanwhile, the Commission also stopped announcing daily figures on COVID infections and deaths, ending a practice of nearly three years as several media reports claimed that the true toll of the country's ongoing outbreak is much worse than the official figures published by authorities. The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may also reduce the frequency of reporting cases, ultimately changing to a monthly report from the current daily publication, CDC official Li Qun said.

Races to vaccinate elderly

Chinese authorities are going door to door and paying people older than 60 to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The National Health Commission announced a campaign last month to raise the vaccination rate among older Chinese, which health experts say is crucial to avoiding a health care crisis. China kept case numbers low for two years with a 'zero-COVID' strategy that isolated cities and confined millions of people to their homes. Now, as it backs off that approach, it is facing the widespread outbreaks that other countries have already gone through.

China's abrupt U-turn on Zero-COVID policy and trying to reverse an economic slump has left health experts puzzled and residents scrambling to adjust to a new way of life. But the shift has flooded hospitals with feverish, wheezing patients all around.