WHO pleased with China’s loosening of zero-Covid after protests

The World Health Organization has cheered China’s loosening of its zero-Covid policy, with cities across the country making further moves towards unwinding some restrictions after days of unprecedented protests against the measures.

President Xi Jinping suggested the spread of the less lethal Omicron strain might allow China to pull back from its hardline strategy of lockdowns and mass testing, senior EU officials reported Friday.

Discontent with Beijing’s uncompromising pandemic response spilled onto streets last weekend and expanded into calls for more political freedom, in widespread demonstrations not seen in decades.

China’s vast security apparatus has moved swiftly to smother the rallies, deploying a heavy police presence while boosting online censorship and population surveillance.

In his first known comments on the protests, Xi told European Union chief Charles Michel the demonstrators were “mainly students or teenagers in university” fed up with Covid restrictions when the pair met Thursday in Beijing, senior officials speaking on condition of anonymity said.

Xi complained “that after three years of Covid that he had an issue because people were frustrated”, they said.