China’s government on Wednesday announced sweeping new measures to pandemic restrictions, marking a significant shift away from three years of a stringent “zero-COVID” policy.

People with mild or asymptomatic coronavirus cases will be allowed to isolate at home, health officials said, while stringent testing requirements for some public places will be dropped.

Officials have defended the policy as necessary to save lives in a country where the fragile health care system could be overwhelmed by uncontrolled outbreaks, touting China’s low death toll as evidence of the superiority of Communist Party rule.

But they had already begun easing restrictions before the protests began late last month, announcing 20 “optimized” measures on Nov. 11 that aimed to minimize the impact on the economy and society.