Asian Insider

China’s relaxed rules mean little if ‘zero-Covid-19’ persists in practice

China reported 17,869 locally transmitted cases on Nov 15, the highest since Shanghai’s massive outbreak in April. PHOTO: AFP
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BEIJING - China’s health authorities last Friday announced 20 new measures apparently aimed at easing the inconvenience brought about by its “zero-Covid-19” strategy, but it remains to be seen whether these will pan out in practice.

On paper, the shorter quarantine time – from 10 to eight days – and the fact that flights carrying infected passengers will no longer be suspended suggest that China is gearing up to reopen to the world.

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