KEY POINTSOne notable development is official language downplaying the severity of the Omicron variant.Vice Premier Sun Chunlan described the Omicron variant’s pathogenic nature as weakening, according to a CNBC translation of a Chinese state media report late last night.“We believe Sun’s speech, in addition to the notable easing of Covid control measures in Guangzhou yesterday, sends yet another strong signal that the zero-Covid policy will end within the next few months,” Nomura’s Chief China Economist Ting Lu and a team said in a report Thursday.BEIJING — A trickle of changes around China’s Covid controls in the last 24 hours has raised hopes that broader relaxation is on its way.Local state media reports and anecdotes indicated Thursday that some people who tested positive for Covid-19 in Beijing might now be allowed to quarantine at home instead of being sent to a centralized facility. It was not clear to what extent these changes applied. At a central government level, one notable development is official language downplaying the severity of the Omicron variant.CNC.com