China Struggles With COVID Infections After Controls Ease

BEIJING (AP) – Social media users are reporting a rash of COVID-19 cases in schools and businesses across China after the ruling Communist Party loosened anti-virus rules as it tries to reverse a deepening economic slump. Official data showed a fall in new cases, but those no longer cover big parts of the population after this week’s decision to end mandatory testing for many people. That was part of dramatic changes aimed at gradually emerging from “zero-COVID” restrictions that sparked protests and demands for President Xi Jinping to resign. Social media users in Beijing and other cities said coworkers or classmates were ill and some businesses closed due to lack of staff.