Shanghai to ease some COVID testing requirements from June 1

(Reuters) – Shanghai will ease COVID-19 testing requirements from June 1 for people who want to enter public areas or use public transport to encourage work resumption and a return to normal life, a city official said on Sunday.

From June 1, people entering public venues or taking public transportation will need to show a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours, versus 48 hours previously, said Yin Xin, a government spokeswoman for Shanghai in a press briefing.

There will be no testing changes, however, for people who want to leave the city.

People who want to leave Shanghai will still need to show a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours and a negative antigen test within 24 hours. As before, they will be exempted from taking an antigen test if they can show a negative PCR test from the last 24 hours, Yin said.

The adjustments to the testing requirements were made to “promote epidemic prevention and control as well as economic and social development, and resume work and a return to normal life,” she said.

(Reporting by Brenda Goh, Roxanne Liu and Emily Chow; Editing by Tom Hogue)