China relaxes zero-covid norms, steps up security ahead of Zemin's funeral

China relaxed its stringent zero-Covid restrictions in several cities after public protests and stepped up security across the country on Thursday as it braced for next week's high-profile funeral of former president Jiang Zemin who died a day earlier.

Flexible measures were implemented across China to ensure people's livelihoods amid the cold front, the official media reported.

After protests against zero-covid lockdowns, China's top industrial and business hub Guangzhou lifted temporary restrictions in some regions and officially allowed qualified close contacts to be quarantined at home instead of in temporary shelters.

Such announcements relaxing the Covid curbs were announced in Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan besides several other cities, the official media reports said.

Beijing witnessed mixed lockdown covid policies. While some buildings went into lockdown on Thursday, all over the city people complained that many of the Covid testing centers have been closed following ...