BEIJING: People with COVID-19 symptoms in one of China’s largest cities can now go to work “as normal”, state media reported Monday (Dec 19), a dramatic reversal in a country where a single case could previously send thousands into lockdown.
The world’s most populous nation is unwinding years of hardline coronavirus policy, with COVID-19 spreading rapidly in the wake of the official end of mass lockdowns, testing and quarantines.
And with authorities admitting the outbreak is “impossible” to track, the southern megacity of Chongqing – home to around 32 million people – became one of the first parts of China to let people work normally even with visible symptoms, the Chongqing Daily reported Monday, citing a notice from municipal authorities.
The notice, issued Sunday, said that “mildly symptomatic” government, party and state workers “can work as normal after undertaking personal protections in accordance with their physical conditions and needs of their jobs”.
It also urged residents not to take virus tests “unnecessarily” or require people to show a negative result, with exceptions for certain facilities such as care homes, schools and prisons.
Local governments across China have generally encouraged people to isolate at home while recovering from the disease – a dramatic shift from the previous policy of herding people into state quarantine facilities.
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