Beijing, Shenzhen scrap COVID-19 tests for public transport
Beijing, Shenzhen scrap COVID-19 tests for public transport
BEIJING -
Chinese authorities on Saturday announced a further easing of COVID-19 curbs with major cities such as Shenzhen and Beijing no longer requiring negative tests to take public transport.
The slight relaxation of testing requirements comes even as daily virus infections reach near-record highs, and follows weekend protests across the country by residents frustrated by the rigid enforcement of antivirus restrictions that are now entering their fourth year, even as the rest of the world has opened up.
The southern technological manufacturing centre of Shenzhen said Saturday that commuters no longer need to show a negative COVID-19 test result to use public transport or when entering pharmacies, parks and tourist attractions.
Meanwhile, the capital Beijing said Friday that negative test results are also no longer required for public transport from Monday. However, a negative result obtained within the past 48 hours is still required to enter venues like shopping malls, which have gradually reopened with many restaurants and eateries providing takeout services.
The requirement has led to complaints from some Beijing residents that even though the city has shut many testing stations, most public venues still require COVID-19 tests.
Despite easing measures, authorities said that the "zero-COVID" strategy -- which aims to isolate every infected person -- is still in place.
On Saturday, Beijing authorities said that because the current round of COVID-19 was spreading fast, it is necessary to "unswervingly continue to implement normalized social prevention and control measures."
The government reported 33,018 domestic infections in the past 24 hours, including 29,085 with no symptoms.
As the rest of the world has learned to live with the virus, China remains the only major nation still sticking to a "zero-COVID" strategy. The policy, which has been in place since the pandemic started, led to snap lockdowns and mass testing across the country.
China still imposes mandatory quarantine for incoming travellers even as its infection numbers are low compared to its 1.4 billion population.
The recent demonstrations, the largest and most widely spread in decades, erupted Nov. 25 after a fire in an apartment building in the northwestern city of Urumqi killed at least 10 people.
That set off angry questions online about whether firefighters or victims trying to escape were blocked by locked doors or other antivirus controls. Authorities denied that, but the deaths became a focus of public frustration.
The country saw several days of protests across cities including Shanghai and Beijing, with protesters demanding an easing of COVID-19 curbs. Some demanded Chinese President Xi Jinping step down, an extraordinary show of public dissent in a society over which the ruling Communist Party exercises near total control.
Xi's government has promised to reduce the cost and disruption of controls but says it will stick with "zero COVID." Health experts and economists expect it to stay in place at least until mid-2023 and possibly into 2024 while millions of older people are vaccinated in preparation for lifting controls that keep most visitors out of China.
While the government has conceded some mistakes, blamed mainly on overzealous officials, criticism of government policies can result in punishment. Former NBA star Jeremy Lin, who plays for a Chinese team, was recently fined 10,000 yuan (US$1,400) for criticizing conditions in team quarantine facilities, according to local media reports.
On Friday, World Health Organization emergencies director Dr. Michael Ryan said that the UN agency was "pleased" to see China loosening some of its coronavirus restrictions, saying "it's really important that governments listen to their people when the people are in pain."
Sign up to receive the most important updates in your inbox two times a week
This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, orange, emerging from the surface of cells, green, cultured in the lab. (NIAID-RML via AP)
British Columbia is taking a major step forward in its fight against the province’s deadly overdose crisis by decriminalizing the possession of a small amount of certain illicit drugs for personal use.
A report commissioned by a non-profit organization founded by the late Jean Vanier says the Canadian sexually abused 25 women during his decades with the group.
A six-year-old girl died in hospital Sunday night after being involved in an incident at the Val-Saint-Côme ski resort in Lanaudiere. Quebec police are investigating, though details into the event are not yet known. Officers indicated that it involved a T-bar lift, but they were not able to say more.
The coronavirus remains a global health emergency, the World Health Organization chief said Monday, after a key advisory panel found the pandemic may be nearing an 'inflection point' where higher levels of immunity can lower virus-related deaths.
New guidance for drinking alcohol could speed up changing consumer drinking habits as younger generations drink less and non-alcoholic beverages become more popular, advocates and business owners in the beverage industry say.
Members of Parliament return to Ottawa to resume sitting for the first time in 2023 on Monday, with the state of Canada's health-care system, the health of the Canadian economy, and rates of violent crime in this country all top of mind.
Quebec's minister responsible for secularism, Jean-Francois Roberge, has called on Canada’s new special anti-Islamophobia advisor Amira Elghawaby to apologize and step down.
British Columbia is taking a major step forward in its fight against the province’s deadly overdose crisis by decriminalizing the possession of a small amount of certain illicit drugs for personal use.
A six-year-old girl died in hospital Sunday night after being involved in an incident at the Val-Saint-Côme ski resort in Lanaudiere. Quebec police are investigating, though details into the event are not yet known. Officers indicated that it involved a T-bar lift, but they were not able to say more.
A Vancouver police sergeant who says he was Const. Nicole Chan's friend and mentor has told a coroner's inquest that Chan believed she would never return to work because human resource officers went to the hospital when she was apprehended under the Mental Health Act.
A report commissioned by a non-profit organization founded by the late Jean Vanier says the Canadian sexually abused 25 women during his decades with the group.
New guidance for drinking alcohol could speed up changing consumer drinking habits as younger generations drink less and non-alcoholic beverages become more popular, advocates and business owners in the beverage industry say.
The grisly aftermath of an alleged fatal shooting was described today during the murder trial of a former medical student accused of killing a fellow student in Halifax seven years ago.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and his allies have been put on notice by a prosecutor, but the warning didn't come from anyone at the Justice Department.
A suicide bomber struck a crowded mosque inside a police compound in Pakistan on Monday, causing the roof to collapse and killing at least 59 people and wounding more than 150 others, officials said.
Defence attorneys in South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial continued Monday to question the way state agents collected and analyzed evidence in the shooting deaths of Murdaugh's wife and son.
The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, claimed responsibility for Monday's suicide bombing at a mosque inside a police compound in the northwestern city of Peshawar. The bombing is likely to strain relations further between Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, who are sheltering the TTP leadership and fighters.
A sixth Memphis Police Department officer has been disciplined for his involvement in the brutal beating and arrest of Tyre Nichols, a department spokeswoman said Monday. Officer Preston Hemphill was relieved of duty shortly after the Jan. 7 arrest of Nichols.
A mining corporation apologized for losing a highly radioactive capsule over a 1,400-kilometre stretch of Western Australia, as authorities combed parts of the road looking for the tiny but dangerous substance.
Members of Parliament return to Ottawa to resume sitting for the first time in 2023 on Monday, with the state of Canada's health-care system, the health of the Canadian economy, and rates of violent crime in this country all top of mind.
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will sit down with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this afternoon to discuss private health care ahead of next week's summit with premiers.
The federal government failed to spend tens of billions of dollars in the last fiscal year on promised programs and services, including new military equipment, affordable housing and support for veterans.
The world is 'dangerously unprepared' for future pandemics, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) say in a report published on Monday, calling on countries to update their preparedness plans by year-end.
New guidance for drinking alcohol could speed up changing consumer drinking habits as younger generations drink less and non-alcoholic beverages become more popular, advocates and business owners in the beverage industry say.
While RSV and flu cases steadily decline in Canada, the World Health Organization is set to announce on Monday whether it still considers COVID-19 a global health emergency, but one infectious disease specialist says we still need to keep an eye on the coronavirus.
Chinese internet search major Baidu Inc is planning to launch an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot service similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT in March, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew will appear before the U.S. Energy and Commerce Committee in March, as lawmakers scrutinize the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.
YouTube superstar MrBeast is making the world clearer -- for at least 1,000 people. The content creator's latest stunt is paying for cataract removal for 1,000 people who were blind or near-blind but could not afford the surgery.
Ashley Judd says she had to re-enroll herself in trauma therapy to cope with the recent media coverage of her mother's death. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper published Monday, Judd said was forced to revisit her trauma when media outlets published pictures of the scene of her mother's death and the contents of a suicide note.
Faced with a tight labour market and a shortage of workers with key software engineering skills, some German companies are looking at thousands of layoffs in Silicon Valley as an opportunity to recruit top talent.
Most Black Canadians feel their employers made progress addressing anti-Black racism last year -- but they worry about what a recession could mean for those gains, a KPMG survey said.
When 1990s suede fringe jackets started making a comeback last year, a U.K.-based vintage clothing company decided to order four tonnes of suede from a supplier in the United States. Along with that shipment came a once-in-a lifetime discovery.
The Mindbender roller coaster at Galaxyland has been shut down, West Edmonton Mall announced on Monday. The redevelopment of the area is already underway, and the roller coaster is being decommissioned and removed.
Queen of clean Marie Kondo admits that tidying up is no longer top of her to-do list. Posting on her website shortly after the birth of her third child in 2021, the Japanese organization expert reflected on motherhood, saying she had 'eased up on herself' when it comes to tidying.
Bobby Hull once proudly said that he played the way he lived -- straightforward. The Hockey Hall of Famer, who electrified fans through the 1960s and 70s, died on Monday at the age of 84. Hull played for the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks before a jump to the Winnipeg Jets of the upstart World Hockey Association in 1972, a move that led to lawsuits but ultimately higher salaries for hockey players.
Gymnastics Canada chief executive officer Ian Moss was on the hot seat at the status of women hearings on safety of women in sport on Monday. Moss was repeatedly questioned by MPs about Gymnastics Canada's handling of coaches Ian Bard and Scott McFarlane amid accusations he knew of complaints from athletes.
Ford Motor Co on Monday cut prices of its electric crossover SUV Mustang Mach-E by as much as US$5,900 per vehicle, weeks after rival Tesla Inc slashed prices globally on its electric vehicles by as much as 20 per cent.
Nissan and Renault have agreed to equalize the stakes they hold in each other, both sides said Monday, ironing out a source of conflict in the Japan-French auto alliance.
Hyundai cars in Canada don't have the same anti-theft issue compared to those in the United States, a company spokesperson says, following reports that two American auto insurers are refusing to write policies for older models.
