Wuhan, China's coronavirus pandemic epicentre, ends 76-day lockdown
Coronavirus lockdown ends in Wuhan
The central Chinese city of Wuhan, the origin point for the coronavirus pandemic, began allowing its residents to travel in and out, as the 76-day lockdown ended on Wednesday.
China sealed off the city on January 23 -- after it was found that the flu-like virus that had emerged there late last year was highly contagious and potentially deadly. Wuhan residents had been allowed out of their homes only to buy food or attend to other tasks deemed absolutely necessary.
The shutdown came as the coronavirus began spreading to the rest of China and overseas during the Lunar New Year holiday in late January, when many Chinese travel.
The unprecedented lockdown served as an example for other countries battling the coronavirus around the world.
Wuhan residents are, however, still urged not to leave their neighbourhoods, the city and even the province unless necessary, health officials said on Tuesday.
Despite fears of a second wave of infection if such restrictions are eased too soon, the first train to carry departing passengers out of the city left at 00:50 a.m. (1650 GMT), and outbound highways were opened to vehicular traffic around the same time.
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The topic “Wuhan lifts lockdown” quickly became the top trending topic on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform, with posters leaving comments such as “welcome back Wuhan”.
Many people remain fearful of catching the disease, with China reporting 137 new asymptomatic cases on April 7.
The death toll in the city has reached 2,571, about 80 per cent of the total fatalities in China, according to official figures.
Mainland China reported no coronavirus deaths for the first time on Tuesday, and Wuhan has counted only two new infections in the past fortnight.
The exact source of the novel coronavirus remains under investigation, though it is thought to be linked to an outdoor food market in the city. Theories also say the virus was developed in a laboratory.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19, a disease caused by coronavirus, a pandemic on March 11.
(with inputs from agencies)