Chinese Cities Struggle to Recover After Covid Curbs Ease
- Subway ridership subdued even in areas without lockdowns
- Rampant virus spread triggers more restrictions and worry
An epidemic control worker has people scan their health codes as they wait in line at a public testing site in Beijing on Nov. 15.
Photographer: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
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China may have significantly eased the way it responds to Covid outbreaks, but some major cities still barely move when the virus is spreading.
There were dramatic declines in the number of people on the subway in a slew of China’s largest cities this week, including economic powerhouses such as Beijing, Guangzhou and Chongqing, despite the updated measures that ended mass testing and citywide lockdowns. Each metropolitan area saw a spike in cases, as the number of local daily infections across the country climbed past 24,000.