According to authorities, Shanghai will lift certain Covid restrictions as of Monday. Some testing requirements will no longer be required as part of China’s latest easing of its zero-Covid policy.

Following the recent protests against the policy, several cities throughout the country have begun to relax some restrictions.

On Sunday, authorities announced residents in Shanghai would no longer require a 48-hour negative test result to use public transport or enter outdoor venues such as tourist attractions and parks, South China Morning Post reports.

Shanghai was closed off for several months this year, radically impacting domestic economic activity. The easing of restrictions follows from other Chinese cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shenzhen and Chengdu, which scrapped the public transport testing requirement over the weekend.

Measures in Shanghai will “continue to be optimised and adjusted” in line with national policy and the local situation, according to a statement by authorities, reports Bloomberg.

In November, health authorities unveiled a series of measures to “optimise” zero-Covid and minimise the socio-economic impact. Still, there has been a wide variation in how the measures have been locally implemented.

The city of Jinzhou said last Thursday the lockdowns would continue as “it would be a shame not to achieve zero-Covid when we are able to”, before backtracking following the protests.

The easing of restrictions comes as Covid cases in the country continue to decline. A total of 29,171 cases were reported on Sunday, close to a two-week low. Moreover, infection spread has fallen from a high of almost 40,000 at the end of last month, yet this may be attributed to a reduction in mass testing, the Bloomberg report adds.