Wuhan Isolation Eased After Months of Lockdown

The Wuhan where the new coronavirus was first diagnosed was partially reopened on Saturday. Another passenger train arrived in Wuhan just after midnight.

 

The authorities closed the metropolis of 11 million inhabitants from the outside world in January to prevent the virus from spreading.

Leaving the city is still not allowed, but people are allowed to travel there again. Passengers with trunks were walking at a train station in the town on Saturday.

Many people are relieved to be able to return. A 36-year-old woman said that she and her daughter were forced to live separately from her husband for almost ten weeks.

“When the train approached Wuhan, my child and I were very excited,” said the woman. “It felt like the train was moving faster than normal. And my daughter said the driver must have realized we really wanted to go home.”

In other places in China, there were long lines of people at stations who wanted to board trains to Wuhan. In Shanghai, employees with mouth masks checked the temperature of passengers.

Wuhan is the city most affected by the new coronavirus in China. Tens of thousands of people were infected. The city is not yet wholly virus-free. There are still more than 2,500 people in hospitals.