It appears protests in China were successful in getting the country's Communist government to shift in its “zero-COVID” policies and ease restrictions.

As of Wednesday, the Chinese National Health Commission said people with mild cases will be allowed, for the first time, to isolate at home, instead of going to potentially overcrowded or unsanitary quarantine centers, according to The Associated Press.

The change appears in response to rare protests that occurred on the streets of China, with some citizens holding up blank pieces of paper. The scenes are paralleled in recent memory only to the protests in Tiananmen Square during 1989, Utica University’s Associate Professor of Political Science Jun Kwon said.

“I think every society, whether it is authoritarian or democratic, people have grievances," Kwon said. "People have dissatisfaction with the status quo they have. But anti-government protests are very unusual in China because the people are afraid of a brutal crackdown on the anti-government protests. And also, Chinese government has been loosening some of the political restrictions for the people as well."

He said China’s approach to COVID-19 has been much stricter than that of the U.S.

“China has been taking really strict measures. For example, a lockdown of the whole city, even though the cities are really megacities. So this is quite a different approach that the China government has been handling or taking," said Kwon.

While the country’s restrictions have helped keep case numbers low, reports say this has led to natural immunity also being down, not to mention a disruption in manufacturing and global trade.

Days ago, Kwon correctly predicted that China would lessen restrictions, giving into the will of protestors.

“Because of COVID, many people do not have enough means to make ends, OK? Also they are losing their jobs. As you know, China’s government is relying on economic success for its legitimacy, but economic growth is slowing. The Chinese government needs to loosen up some of the restrictions," he said.

Kwon said he believes these protests have been limited to the issue of COVID-19 policies, meaning he doesn’t think there will be general, anti-government protests in China.

Some of the changes in China’s COVID-19 policies, according to their National Health Commission, include: People with mild cases will be allowed to isolate at home; public facilities, with some exceptions, will no longer require visitors to show a “health code” on a smartphone app; the scope of closures will be narrowed to single apartment floors or buildings, rather than neighborhoods; and schools in communities with no outbreaks must return to in-person education.

Reports say that restrictions won’t be completely lifted for at least several months because millions of senior citizens still need to be vaccinated.