The coronavirus lockdown that compelled residents to stay at home for more than two weeks and closed schools and businesses in the Chinese megacity of Chengdu was lifted on Monday, releasing millions of people.
With a population of 21 million, Chengdu in southwest China is the biggest Chinese city to shut down since the strict two-month lockdown of Shanghai's financial centre in April, which left many citizens in need of food.
China is the final significant economy to commit to a zero-COVID approach, and officials there are under pressure to quickly stop viral outbreaks before a crucial political gathering in the middle of October.
“With the joint efforts of the whole city, the epidemic has been effectively controlled,” the Chengdu government said in a statement.
Government departments, public transport services, and companies were able to resume work on Monday after shutting down on September 1.
Chengdu will continue to conduct mass testing, and anyone who wants to enter a public area or take public transport will require a negative COVID test result within 72 hours, similar to the rules in other large cities including Beijing and Shanghai.
Schools will reopen in an “orderly manner” and returning students will be strictly tested, the statement said.
Gyms, swimming pools, mahjong clubs, and other indoor entertainment venues must all check whether patrons have a negative test result within 48 hours.
No new cases were reported in the city on Monday.
During the strict lockdown, some residents confined to their homes could not even flee when a strong earthquake in a nearby part of Sichuan province reverberated through the city earlier this month.
Chengdu will host the world team table tennis championships at the end of September in a “closed-loop” bubble that will be China’s first international sports event since the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics in February and March.
Several other cities – including the southern tech hub of Shenzhen and Guiyang in south China, where Apple’s China data centre is located – have all had selective lockdowns and travel restrictions in recent weeks as officials rushed to curb mini-outbreaks.
Last month, travellers in the southern island province of Hainan protested after more than 80,000 tourists were stranded in a resort city because of a COVID-19 flare-up.
China reported 807 new domestic infections on Monday, the majority of which were asymptomatic, according to the National Health Commission. As of September 18, mainland China confirmed 248,326 cases with symptoms.