Health officials are concerned that people traveling home to their villages for the Lunar New Year could turn celebrations into superspreader events, catching ill-prepared rural systems off guard.
When Chinese people woke up on Tuesday morning, many shared their excitement on social media for the long-awaited relaxation of the epidemic control measures as the Chinese top health authority announced late on Monday it would downgrade COVID-19 management and reopen the country s borders, to be effective on January 8, 2023. After three years fight against the pandemic, some considered the ending of COVID-19 quarantines and reopening borders as the best New Year gift, which will also be a major turning point in the country s fight against the virus.
President Xi Jinping has admitted that China needs to tackle Covid in a more targeted way as the country reopens to a surge of 5,000 deaths a day , after years of draconian lockdowns.