The Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Chongqing announced today the easing of coronavirus restrictions, a day after clashes between protesters and police in Guangzhou.

Local authorities in Chongqing have made a decision to allow contact with people positive for the corona virus, but under certain conditions that include home quarantine.

The city of Guangzhou, located not far from Hong Kong, also announced the easing of restrictive measures.

However, demonstrations over the weekend spread to Shanghai, Beijing and other cities.

Hundreds of off-road vehicles, vans and armored vehicles under rotating lights were also seen on the streets of Chinese cities today.

Police conducted random ID checks and searched people's cellphones for photos, banned apps or other potential evidence of participation in the demonstrations.

For now, the number of those detained during the demonstrations and subsequent police actions is not known.

Otherwise Chinese universities send students home, to prevent the biggest demonstrations in decades, demanding the resignation of Chinese leader Xi Jinping due to strict restrictions to fight the coronavirus.

The universities said that classes and final exams will take place online.

"The authorities hope that by cleaning the campus they will defuse the situation," said Dali Yang, an expert on Chinese politics from the University of Chicago.

The Director General of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, he said yesterday in Berlin that it is time for China to stop pursuing a strategy of mass population incarceration to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

IMF: China to reconsider the "zero covid" policy, which has consequences for the world economy