‘Everything is dead here’: China slowly reopens after easing Covid-19 restrictions

Judging by the quiet streets in the Chinese capital Beijing on Friday and the reluctance of some companies to abandon Covid-19 restrictions, ongoing fears about the coronavirus will likely make it difficult for the world’s second-largest economy to quickly return to normal.

While the government on Wednesday loosened important parts of the strict “Covid-zero” health policy that has kept the epidemic under control for the past three years, many seem afraid to be too quick to ditch the containment.

In the central city of Wuhan, where the new coronavirus emerged in late 2019, more signs of life were seen on Friday, as some areas were filled with vehicles. But residents say a return to normalcy is far away.

“They’ve relaxed the restrictions, but there’s still no one around,” said a taxi driver named Wang, who declined to give his full name.

“You see, these roads, these streets… must be crowded, full of people. But there is no one. Everything is dead here.”

However, China has not been quiet in recent weeks, and protests in many cities against the Covid-19 restrictions mark the biggest public discontent since President Xi Jinping took power a decade ago.

Just a month after the National Health Commission stressed its commitment to a strict virus containment policy, saying it “puts people and lives first”, authorities have changed course and say people now have less to fear.

But there are signs that the reassuring new message has yet to convince most of the country’s 1.4 billion people.

With the need for testing waning and most infected people able to self-isolate at home, some have embraced new freedoms. For others, it seems difficult to break the habits formed during the months of isolation.

Many seats were empty on the Beijing subway during what should have been rush hour Friday night, but the city dismissed the need to show a negative test this week to board the train or enter offices.

Some restaurants in the city center were empty at lunchtime.

China’s 5,235 Covid-19-related death tolls are a small fraction of its 1.4 billion population and are extremely low by global standards. Some experts have warned that the account could rise to over 1.5 million if the reopening is rushed too quickly.

Manufacturers are also being cautious, maintaining Covid-19 restrictions until they have a clearer picture of how workplaces will be affected by the relaxation of strict measures.

Analysts and business leaders expect China’s economy to recover by the end of next year, following the difficult path the rest of the world has taken to open up and deal with the disease.

(Reported by Ryan Woo, Bernard Orr and editorial staff from Beijing, Brenda Goh, Josh Horwitz and Jason Xue from Shanghai, Zoey Zhang, Martin Pollard from Wuhan and Selena Li from Hong Kong.)