China announces rollback of COVID-19 restrictions following protests

China began rolling back some of its COVID-19 restrictions on Wednesday after frustrations with the country’s strict “zero-COVID” policy boiled over into mass protests late last month.

China’s National Health Commission announced that it was ending regular mandatory testing for the majority of the population and would no longer require negative tests for most public spaces, according to CBS News.

The government will also no longer lock down entire apartment complexes in the event of a positive test, CBS reported, and people with COVID-19 infections will not be required to isolate in state quarantine centers.

The rollback represents a major shift for Chinese President Xi Jinping, following nearly three years of tight restrictions.  

Protests erupted in cities across the country in late November after the government’s strict COVID-19 protocols were blamed for hindering the emergency response to a deadly apartment fire in the northwestern city of Urumqi. Ten people were killed and nine were injured in the apartment building, where residents had been under lockdown for several months.

As protesters took to the streets in the unprecedented display of widespread public dissent, some made bold calls for Xi and the Chinese Communist Party to step down.