The restrictions on residents leaving Wuhan will not be lifted until April 8th
Wuhan, China:
The Chinese city of 11 million, which was Ground Zero for the global coronavirus pandemic, was partially reopened on Saturday after more than two months of almost total isolation.
Wuhan was banned in January, residents were not allowed to walk, roadblocks were installed, and millions were subjected to dramatic daily restrictions.
But the central Chinese city has now at least partially reopened its doors.
People are allowed to enter but not to leave, and many trains arriving on Saturday are booked out days in advance.
The restrictions on residents leaving Wuhan will not be lifted until April 8th.
The main traffic and industrial center is the last area in Hubei Province where travel restrictions have been lifted.
With the exception of Wuhan, train stations and airports resumed operations across the province earlier this week.
As a virus epicenter, Wuhan faced some of the toughest restrictions. The contagion was discovered in December and has been linked to a market in the city selling wild animals for human consumption.
It also paid the highest price, with more than 50,000 people infected and more deaths from COVID-19 – the disease caused by the virus – than any other city in China.
Wuhan initially struggled to contain the outbreak. AFP reporters saw long lines of sick patients in a city hospital in January that overwhelmed employees couldn't handle quickly.
But the numbers have dropped dramatically in the past few weeks. Official figures show that there have been fewer than 20 new cases across the province in the past 14 days.
Most of the Wuhan subway network will restart on Saturday, and some shopping centers will open their doors next week.
Banks were reopened this week and bus routes were put into operation – despite unnecessary travel advising residents and instructing over 65s not to use public transportation.
A study earlier this week found that the Wuhan lockdown managed to stop the rapidly spreading virus and give healthcare facilities critical space – but warned against opening the city too soon.
Liu Dongru of the Hubei Health Commission said Friday that while Wuhan was classified as a "low-risk area", work to fight the virus must continue.
"Zero reported cases are not zero risk," he said.
"We have even more responsibility to carry out prevention and control work with increased difficulties.
"The risk of a partial flare-up of the epidemic always remains."
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and published from a syndicated feed.)
