Dozens of coronavirus test kiosks close in Beijing

In Beijing, the capital of China, the local government he started to stop the thousands of kiosks opened in the past two years to carry out tests for the coronavirus, which during the pandemic have become a symbol of the so-called “zero COVID” strategy adopted by the Chinese government, which is highly contested and which in recent months has provoked demonstrations even very violent in several cities of China.

Kiosks are temporary structures with a glass door and two circular arm holes for the person testing people who show up. They were needed to get a negative test quickly and then gain access to offices, stores and large indoor facilities. Their closure seems to only concern the city of Beijing for the moment, which has announced, among other things, that it will no longer require a negative test to be able to access supermarkets. From Monday, the metro can also be used without a negative test. In other major cities, such as Shenzhen, Chengdu and Tianjin, local governments have already removed the requirement for anyone using public transport or walking in parks to present a negative test.

Other signs are emerging, along with those seen in recent days at local and national levels, that China is preparing to exit, albeit gradually, from its “zero COVID” strategy, which calls for the complete elimination of all epidemics. with heavy confinements and restrictions.

All these measures are part of the easing of restrictions that the Chinese government has decided to implement also following the exceptional demonstrations against confinements and restrictions in recent days. The demonstrations have now largely ceased, with a few exceptions, and their slowdown has also and above all contributed to the repression of the regime, which has occupied and militarized the places where the demonstrators gather, to then try to find and prosecute the people they had taken the street. At the same time, the government has accepted some protesters’ demands, although it is unclear whether it will abandon the “zero COVID” strategy for good.

Source: ilpost

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