Tens of thousands of people in Wuhan, the origin point and epicentre for the coronavirus pandemic, travelled out of the sprawling city on Wednesday as China lifted its 76-day lockdown that sealed off around 11 million people in the city, even as health experts warn that the threat of a rebound in infections remains far from over.
Within hours of the lifting of the travel ban, tens of thousands of people wearing masks travelled out of the city as trains, domestic flights and taxis resumed operations, ending the city’s painful isolation due to COVID-19 which was first detected there in December last year.
The Government has lifted the ban on road, air and train travel for all the locals who have acquired health certificates. The easing of travel restrictions came after new infections have been drastically reduced across China, even as the number of fresh COVID-19 cases crossed 1,000 in the country and two new deaths heightened concerns of a rebound in infections.
After barricades were removed at toll gates around Wuhan at Tuesday midnight, vehicles in long lines honked horns and rushed out, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Cars queued up at expressway toll gates and passengers prepared to board trains to leave Wuhan as the megacity started lifting outbound travel restrictions, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Guo Lei, who ran a business in Wuhan, drove his car with six other people aboard to a toll gate at around 8:40 pm (local time) and waited for a homebound trip.
“I can’t wait returning to my hometown,” said Guo, a native of east China’s Shandong Province. “I have lived in Wuhan for eight years. During the Spring Festival holiday, my relatives came to the city and helped me deliver goods. We were all stranded here due to the epidemic,” Guo said.
Shortly after midnight at Wuchang Railway Station, more than 400 passengers jumped on a train heading for Guangzhou in the south, the first train that left Wuhan after the lockdown was lifted. More than 55,000 passengers were expected to leave Wuhan by train on Wednesday.
Xinhua said there would be around 200 flights on Wednesday. A China Eastern airlines flight to the Phoenix International Airport in Sanya, south China’s Hainan Province, was the first flight flying from Wuhan after the outbound travel restrictions were lifted on Wednesday. On January 23, Wuhan declared unprecedented traffic restrictions, including suspending the city’s public transport and all outbound flights and trains. Similar restrictions were soon introduced in other areas in Hubei.