The announcement on Wednesday was the latest easing of restrictions after protesters in cities across the country demanded an end to a zero-Covid strategy that has made China an outlier among the world's major economies. President Xi Jinping has backed the strategy, which has touted China's low death toll as evidence of the superiority of Communist Party rule.
Officials defended the policy as necessary to save lives in a country where the fragile health care system could be overwhelmed by uncontrolled outbreaks. They had already begun easing restrictions before the protests began late last month, announcing 20 optimized measures on November 11 that were intended to minimize the impact on the economy and society.
The protests were the biggest show of public unrest China had seen in decades, and were quickly put down by the ruling Communist Party. Local officials have since loosened lockdowns and testing requirements in an effort to address frustration with the restrictions, which have created an atmosphere of anxiety and undermined the world's second-largest economy.
The National Health Commission said on Wednesday it didn't mention the protests or any official end to zero-Covid policy. The blocking of fire exits during lock-ins was banned by protesters, who suggested it had contributed to the death toll in an apartment fire in the western city of Urumqi on November 24. Officials denied the allegation. The ban on the sale of cold medications, which had previously required name registration in order to root out potential infections, was one of the measures announced on Wednesday. If no new infections are discovered, lockdowns will be limited to five days and must be highly targeted.
The National Health Commission noted earlier in the day that the new omicron variant was weaker but more transmissible than previous variants of the virus. It highlighted the importance of inoculating China's older population, whose relative lack of vaccine is one of the country's biggest obstacles in transition to living with the disease. China has reported rising case numbers due to outbreaks driven by omicron, despite the fact that it is still small by global standards. More than 80 percent of the new infections in the United States are asymptomatic, according to the National Health Commission.