After China’s Covid backflip, megacity urges people with mild symptoms to keep going to work

Last month, Chongqing reported more than 80,000 infections, now authorities say PCR testing is not needed to enter most public places
Problematic market behaviour such as hoarding medical products and price gouging will be punished, according to notice

Coronavirus China

Zhenzhen Liu

Published: 4:56pm, 19 Dec 2022

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The megacity of Chongqing in southwestern China is asking people with mild Covid-19 symptoms or no symptoms at all to work as usual as case numbers surge in the aftermath of Beijing’s policy pivot.

The announcement came a day after the eastern province of Zhejiang – a major economic hub in China – said those with no symptoms could “continue to work, if need be, if they took requisite personal protections”.

The big step towards living with Covid-19 came as China’s authorities suddenly stopped mentioning “zero-Covid” and changed their pandemic response from closely monitoring outbreaks to treating infections, particularly severe cases.

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According to the notice by Chongqing government on Monday, PCR testing is not needed to enter public places – from government institutions to social enterprises – except to enter “special sites” such as schools, nurseries and care homes for the elderly, and for newly admitted patients and their companions going into hospitals.

People who do not have coronavirus symptoms do not need to test themselves for the virus or take any medicine, and those who show mild or no symptoms can “work as normal”, depending on their position and health, according to Chongqing authorities.

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Cases were rising in the city last month before the Covid-19 rules were relaxed, with the number of infections exceeding 80,000, state news agency Xinhua said.

Now that large-scale PCR testing is no longer in place, the size of the city’s current outbreaks is unclear. However, the notice advised “an appropriate number” of PCR testing sites would remain in some areas to meet public demand.

The public notices followed a general Covid-related drug shortage and operational problems in hospitals across many major cities in mainland China. Surging cases and public anxiety has led to rapidly increasing demand for medical supplies while hospitals, faced with staff shortages because of infections among doctors and nurses, often lack the capacity to take on huge numbers of Covid-19 patients.

The sudden shift away from zero-Covid has also sparked illegal market behaviour, including price gouging of pandemic-related supplies.

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In the notice, the Chongqing government said online medical consultations could help to “ease the pressure from fever clinics in the healthcare facilities” and adequate medical supplies must be maintained for medical facilities and pharmacies without delay.

Disruptive behaviour, such as hoarding and price gouging in the medical market, would be “firmly punished [to] effectively protect the public demand for medicine”, it said.

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The notice also urged people to keep wearing masks and get vaccinated, especially the elderly. This month, the Chongqing government announced it would further roll out vaccination for elderly groups in the city.

Jabs were “the most important measure to improve protection for aged groups from severe outcomes of Covid-19, apart from other general protective measures”, said Luo Fei, director of Chongqing’s disease control centre.