Beijing and Guangzhou ease up on restrictions

Authorities also warn about blocking exits after deadly residential fire in Xinjiang region

Authorities in Beijing and Guangzhou have eased some zero-Covid measures and warned that essential exits must not be blocked, amid calls for an end to lockdowns following last week’s deadly fire in Urumqi.

Health authorities in Beijing said high-risk areas should be defined by units and buildings. These areas could be expanded when transmission risks were unclear or transmission was widespread in the community but only after “rigorous assessment”.

The remarks are in line with a push by China’s top leadership for a more “targeted and precise” approach to zero-Covid as restrictions, including the quarantine period for arrivals, are gradually eased.

The use of solid objects to enclose or isolate areas was “strictly forbidden”, as was the blocking of fire escape routes, unit doors and community doors, local officials said in Beijing on Sunday.

Medical institutions should not refuse to receive patients who are at risk of Covid-19

WANG XIAOE, BEIJING OFFICIAL

Beijing had reported 2,086 new local Covid-19 cases by 3pm yesterday, said Liu Xiaofeng, deputy director of the city’s disease control and prevention centre.

Wang Xiaoe, an official with the Beijing municipal health commission, said the city would ensure that medical services were not interrupted or delayed.

“If people [in sealed-off areas] at risk of Covid-19 need to go out for medical treatment, transport can be provided,” she said. “Medical institutions should not refuse to receive patients who are at risk of Covid-19 and go to see a doctor on their own.”

A residential fire in Urumqi in China’s far west that killed 10 people and injured nine last Thursday has sparked protests across the nation, with critics alleging that blockades around the building delayed firefighters.

Xinjiang officials insisted the building where the fire broke out was not sealed off. They also denied that the victims, most of whom died after inhaling toxic fumes, were blocked from escaping.

Curbs in Urumqi were relaxed soon after the protests, with deliveries and district-wide transport to resume today, allowing residents to shop and work in low-risk areas.

Officials also said flights from Urumqi to Changsha in Hunan province and Sanya, Hainan province, had resumed.

China is undergoing its most severe coronavirus outbreak of the pandemic, with infection numbers hitting a new high of 40,052 yesterday, with 36,304 yet to show symptoms.

The other epicentre, Guangzhou, announced on Sunday evening that groups confined to their homes – including seniors, people working from home and students taking online classes – could be exempted from compulsory test swabs.

Guangzhou reported 7,365 new cases on Sunday, including 7,166 asymptomatic infections.