China Struggles With COVID, Infections After Loosening of , 'Zero-COVID' Restrictions.<br />China's "Zero COVID" policy had confined millions <br />of people to their homes and sparked protests <br />and calls for President Xi Jinping to step down.<br />China's "Zero COVID" policy had confined millions <br />of people to their homes and sparked protests <br />and calls for President Xi Jinping to step down.<br />The loosening of restrictions began on November 11 <br />as part of a promise to reduce the cost of testing and <br />quarantine and end economic disruption.<br />ABC reports that official COVID data comes <br />after the government ended mandatory <br />testing for many people on December 7.<br />On December 9, the government <br />reported 16,797 new cases, which <br />included 13,160 people without symptoms.<br />That number was down about <br />one-fifth from December 8 and less <br />than half of last week's high above 40,000.<br />But large parts of the population weren't accounted for since the end of mandatory testing.<br />But large parts of the population weren't accounted for since the end of mandatory testing.<br />On social media, people were reporting <br />coworkers and classmates that were ill and <br />some businesses that had closed due to a <br />lack of staff who contracted COVID.<br />There’s very few people coming in <br />because there’s so many cases. <br />The country’s just opened up. <br />The first one or two months is <br />definitely going to be serious. <br />Nobody’s used to this yet, Gang Xueping, waitress in a Beijing restaurant, via ABC.<br />ABC reports that the situation echoes similar <br />experiences in the United States, Europe and <br />other countries trying to restore business activity.<br />According to experts and economists, <br />restrictions will most likely remain <br />in place until at least mid-2023.
