January 10, 2023: -China has suspended or closed the social media accounts of over 1,000 critics of the administrative policies on the Covid-19 outbreak as the country moves to open further.

The popular Sina Weibo social media area said it had addressed 12,854 violations, which include attacks on scholars, scholars and medical workers and issued temporary or permanent prohibiting on 1,120 accounts.

The ruling Communist Party had relied mainly on the medical community to ensure its tough lockdowns, quarantine measures and mass testing, all of which it abruptly abandoned in the previous month, leading to an increase in new cases that have stretched medical resources to their limits. The party permits no direct criticism and imposes strict limits on free speech.

The firm “will continue to surge the investigation and cleanup of all kinds of unlawful content and make a harmonious and friendly community environment for most users,” Sina Weibo said in a Thursday statement.

Criticism has focused mainly on open-ended travel restrictions that saw everyone confined to their homes for weeks, at times without adequate food or medical care. Anger was vented over the requirement that anyone who potentially tested positive or had been related to a person is confined for concentration in a domain hospital, where overcrowding, poor food and hygiene were commonly known.

The social and economic costs prompted rare street protests in Beijing and different cities, possibly influencing the group’s decision to swiftly ease the strictest measures.

China is facing an increase in cases and hospitalizations in significant cities and is bracing for a spread into less developed areas with the beginning of the Lunar New Year travel rush, set to go underway in the coming days. While international flights are still decreasing, authorities expect domestic rail and air journeys to double over the same period last year, bringing total numbers close to those of the year 2019 holiday period before the pandemic reached.

On Friday, the Transportation Ministry called on travellers to reduce trips and gatherings, mainly if they involve older adults, pregnant women, small children and those with underlying conditions.

People using public transport are pressured to wear masks and pay special awareness to their health and personal cleanliness, Vice Minister Xu Chengguang reporters at a briefing.

However, China is forging ahead with a plan to end mandatory quarantines for people coming from abroad starting on Sunday.