China softens tone on COVID severity after protests

China is softening its tone on the severity of COVID-19 and easing some coronavirus restrictions even as its daily case toll hovers near records, after anger over the world's toughest curbs morphed into protests across the country, Qazet.az reports.

Several cities in the world's second-largest economy, while still reporting infections, are breaking with past practice by lifting district lockdowns and allowing businesses to reopen.