[custom_adv] After 76 days sealed off from the world, the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus pandemic began, has opened its doors again. 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. [custom_adv] 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”. [custom_adv] 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. [custom_adv] 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. [custom_adv] On Tuesday evening, cars parked along the streets – empty for months – were moved as people expected normal traffic to resume. Inner city public bus services also reopened, and residents expected morning rush hour to return with commuters crowding public transport on Wednesday. [custom_adv] 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. [custom_adv] The policy has been credited with slowing down the spread of the virus by forcing social distancing and limiting transmission between Hubei and other parts of the country. [custom_adv] But the lockdown has also been criticised as a draconian measure of last resort, taken only because authorities waited too long and suppressed early warnings. According to official figures, more than 2,500 people in the city have died from the virus, but some residents believe the true figure is likely to be higher. [custom_adv] Other measures remain in place – a sign authorities do not believe the epidemic is completely over. Some residents said their residential compounds, after starting to allow residents to leave, had tightened restrictions again but did not explain why. [custom_adv] Toward the end of January, China abruptly sealed off Wuhan to halt the coronavirus' spread to other regions of the country, implementing a lockdown order that has now become common in other parts of the world. [custom_adv] At midnight on Wednesday morning, Chinese officials began allowing people to travel out of Wuhan — the initial epicenter of the novel coronavirus pandemic — for the first time in nearly 11 weeks. As the travel ban was lifted, people who had been stranded in the city and could prove they are healthy began pouring out of Wuhan by plane, train, and car. [custom_adv] The first train leaving Wuhan's Hankou station was bound for the city of Jingzhou, which is about 150 miles away, according to The Wall Street Journal. According to Chinese state media, the first train to leave Hubei province entirely was destined for Nanning in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which is roughly 750 miles southwest of Wuhan. [custom_adv] Around 200 flights were scheduled to fly to and from Wuhan on Wednesday — roughly one-third the typical total — and at least 11,855 had bought tickets to fly out of Wuhan that day, an airport official told The Wall Street Journal.
