Beijing, Shanghai residents back to work as China eases into living with COVID

Mask-wearing Beijing and Shanghai commuters crowded subway trains on Monday, with China’s two biggest cities moving closer to living with COVID-19, as millions have been infected with the virus across the country.
After years of ruthless anti-coronavirus curbs, President Xi Jinping scrapped the country’s zero-COVID policy in the face of protests and a widening outbreak.
But after the initial shock of the policy U-turn, and a few weeks in which people in Beijing and Shanghai stayed indoors, either dealing with the disease or trying to avoid it, there are signs that life is on course to returning closer to normal.
Subway trains in Beijing and Shanghai were packed, while some major traffic arteries in the two cities jammed with slow-moving cars on Monday as residents commuted to work.