By 
SHANGHAI:
As a softening of China’s virus bans gained momentum on Saturday, residents of Beijing applauded the removal of COVID-19 testing booths and Shenzhen said it will no longer need commuters to produce test results in order to travel.
Even though the number of cases per day is close to an all-time high, some cities are taking action to relax COVID-19 testing requirements and quarantine laws as China looks to target its zero-COVID policy in the face of a severe economic slowdown and mounting public resentment that has reached a boiling point.
Following similar actions by Chengdu and Tianjin, the southern city of Shenzhen stated that it will no longer need anyone to present a negative COVID test result in order to utilize public transportation or attend parks.
In Beijing, the capital of China, several testing booths have also been closed as the city prepares to stop requiring negative test results as a requirement to access establishments like supermarkets starting on Monday. Testing is still required in a lot of other places, such as workplaces.
On Friday, a video of employees in Beijing transferring a testing booth by crane onto a truck quickly gained popularity on Chinese social media.
One commenter stated, “This should have been taken away sooner!” Another person added, “Banned to history.”
Reuters was unable to confirm the reliability of the video. However, locals complained of hour-long lines for the tests at some of the booths that were still open as a result of the shutdown.
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