“Hello Wuhan”: China’s Wuhan all set to welcome citizens after 76 days lockdown
By MYBRANDBOOK
The birthplace of the fatal coronavirus pandemic, Wuhan, China has decided to end its lockdown and open the doors again for regular use after getting sealed for 76 days. At midnight on Wednesday, authorities allowed residents to leave the city for the first time since 23 January when 11 million people were put under lockdown to contain the quickly spreading coronavirus.
“It’s like being liberated,” said a resident, who was in his car among rows of vehicles waiting on a motorway leading east out of Wuhan, towards the neighbouring province of Jiangsu. “Of course I am very excited,” he said. Happy messages were pouring in since the news went out.
Others said they were rushing to go back to work, going home to attend a funeral or trying to avoid the inevitable rush of vehicles on Wednesday morning when traffic resumes.
City officials have worked to make an event of the city’s reopening, with a light show, social media campaigns led by state media, and special events to mark the reopening of the airports, stations and factories. Train and bus terminals were decorated with lights. Skyscrapers in the city centre were lit up with the words: “Hello, Wuhan”.
Online, internet users posted hourly countdowns to midnight while some reflected on their time shut indoors, under government orders.
Colleges, primary and secondary schools, vocational schools, technical colleges and nursery schools are still closed. Officials said in a notice on Tuesday that the opening date would be “decided after evaluation of prevention efforts".
China Eastern said it was operating 30 flights from Wuhan to other cities in China, like Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, with more than 1,600 trips booked. More than 55,000 passengers have booked tickets to leave the city, according to the railway operator. Long-distance buses have also resumed service.
Over the last few weeks, the city has been gradually easing the lockdown by allowing some residents to leave their residential compounds on a limited basis. On Wednesday, more businesses are to reopen and all residents with green “health codes” and documents from their employers should be able to return to work.
Wuhan’s lockdown was an unprecedented measure soon emulated by surrounding cities and counties, putting an estimated 56 million people in Hubei province under de facto quarantine. As the virus has spread globally and new cases in China have dropped dramatically, Chinese officials say the strategy was justified.
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