China loosens COVID curbs in major policy shift

STORY: China announced on Wednesday (December 7) the most sweeping changes to its tough anti-COVID restrictions since the pandemic began three years ago, following the weeks of unrest that recently hit the country over the measures.

The relaxation of rules include allowing infected people with mild or no symptoms to quarantine at home and dropping testing for people traveling within China.

The announcement quickly became the most viewed topic on China's social media platform Weibo.

But some expressed worries about the greater potential for infections.

Liang Wannian, the National Health Commission official, tried to ease some of those worries.

"The optimization of the policy is not completely open-up without prevention. It is a proactive optimization rather than reactive."

Wednesday's announcement is the strongest sign yet that Beijing is preparing its 1.5 billion people to live with the disease.

Although China's borders remain mostly shut, searches on Chinese travel sites within the country surged.

Travel platforms from Trip.com to Qunar said searches for air tickets to cities such as the tourist spot of Sanya and Harbin jumped as much as seven times after the news of the looser rules was announced.

Many people are looking to travel around the Lunar New Year holiday in January.

Many foreign business groups, including the European Chamber of Commerce in China welcomed the shift that could reinvigorate China's sagging economy and currency and bolster global growth.

Cities across China were gripped by the protests over its tough COVID policies last month, although they later petered out under a heavy police presence.

Cities and regions around the country started announcing a mish-mash of easing measures that fed expectations for Wednesday's announcement.

Officials have also been softening their tone on the health risks of the virus - bringing China closer to what other countries have been saying for more than a year.

But that has set off a rush for preventative drugs as some residents, particularly the unvaccinated elderly, feel more vulnerable to the virus.

Authorities across the country have warned of tight supplies and price gouging from retailers in recent days.