Relief and worry as major Chinese cities ease COVID curbs

BEIJING, (Reuters) - Further easing of COVID-19 testing requirements and quarantine rules in some Chinese cities was met with a mix of relief and worry on Friday, as hundreds of millions await an expected shift in national virus policies after widespread social unrest.

The looser measures were welcomed by workers frustrated by three years of economically damaging curbs but have jolted others who suddenly feel more exposed to a disease authorities had consistently described as deadly until this week.

The elderly, many of whom are still unvaccinated, feel the most vulnerable.

Shi Wei, a Beijing resident suffering from lymphatic cancer, spends most of his time isolating, but still worries about getting COVID and giving it to his 80-year-old mother as he goes out for hospital treatment every three weeks.

"I can only pray God protects me," he said.

China's COVID policies have stifled everything from domestic consumption, to factory output and global supply chains, and have inflicted severe mental stress on hundreds of millions of people.

Anger over the world's toughest curbs fuelled dozens of protests in more than 20 cities in recent days in a show of civil disobedience unprecedented in mainland China since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.

Less than 24 hours after people clashed with white hazmat-suited riot police in Guangzhou on Tuesday, a sprawling manufacturing hub just north of Hong Kong, the city lifted lockdowns in at least seven of its districts.

"Finally, we can slowly return to our normal lives," said Lili, 41, who works for a chain of restaurants in Guangzhou that were allowed to reopen on Thursday.

Lockdown interruptions over the last few years resulted in a 30% drop in earnings, she said.

"The public could not stand it any longer, and everyone wished that we could reopen ... The Guangzhou government probably heard what we were asking for and thought it was about time," said Lili.

Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, who oversees COVID efforts, said this week the ability of the virus to cause disease was weakening - a message that aligns with what health authorities around the world have said for more than a year.

On Friday, some neighbourhoods in the capital Beijing posted on social media guidelines on how positive cases can be quarantined at home, in a landmark move.

That contrasts with scenes of chaos earlier this year when cases were frantically thrown into centralised facilities while their communities were put under lockdown, sometimes for weeks. Last month, easier rules required just the lockdown of specific buildings.