Shanghai eases COVID-19 curbs
Shanghai will stop checking nucleic acid test report for public transport and outdoor venues from Monday.
Citizens will no longer be required to show a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test report from Monday morning to take Metro, buses, ferries and other in-city public transportation, Shanghai's COVID-19 prevention and control authority said on Sunday.
A retrospective bus on the Bund in Shanghai.
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Local parks, scenic spots and other outdoor public venues will also stop checking PCR test report at the entrances.
These are part of the efforts to optimize Shanghai's pandemic prevention and control policies, the authority said on Shanghaifabu, the city's official WeChat account.
The measures will be further adjusted according to the national policies and COVID-19 situation, the authority said.
Passengers on Shanghai's Metro Line 15.
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A 48-hour negative PCR test report will still be required to enter restaurants (including pubs), shopping centers (including department stores), supermarkets, wet markets, beauty and hair salons, bath and foot massage shops as well as other commercial sites, Shanghaifabu said in a reply to online requests.
Citizens are still required to scan the venue codes. They should keep wearing masks, maintain social distance and ensure personal hygiene as well as take the COVID vaccines as soon as possible.
A woman scans a venue code before entering a Metro station in Shanghai in this photo taken in September.
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Shanghai on Sunday reported 11 COVID-19 community cases and designated eight high-risk areas. The four confirmed cases and the seven asymptomatic cases live in Fengxian, Jiading, Huangpu, Xuhui, Changning, Jing'an and Baoshan districts as well as the Pudong New Area, according to the Shanghai Health Commission.
A total of 280 close contacts of the new community cases had been traced and placed under central quarantine as of 4pm on Saturday. Among them, 99 have tested negative.
Some 162,010 related people have been screened and 141,685 among them have tested negative. Two items collected from the infected accommodations, among the 202 items and environmental samples, have tested positive.Eight high-risk areas have been designated and put under lockdown, including their homes and places they have been to.
Nationwide situation
Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan has underlined the importance of constantly optimizing the country's COVID-19 response.
She said the country is facing a new situation and new tasks in pandemic prevention and control as the pathogenicity of the Omicron virus weakens, more people are vaccinated and experience in containing the virus is accumulated.
Nationwide, multiple cities have relaxed pandemic restrictions and precautionary measures as the country optimizes its prevention policies.
People walk on a street in Haizhu District, Guangzhou City in south China's Guangdong Province, on November 30.
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From Wednesday, Beijing residents who do not engage in social activities are no longer required to participate in community nucleic acid screenings if they do not need to leave their homes.
Several districts in Guangzhou, capital city of south China's Guangdong Province and one of the epicenters of the recent COVID-19 outbreak, have lifted all lockdowns.
Restrictions are also being slowly phased out in the central urban area of Chongqing.
The governments of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chongqing have also allowed self-isolation at home for some close contacts of infections.
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Editor: Su Yanxian
Designer: Fiona LiWriter: Yang Jian
Photo: Xinhua