China lifts 73-day lockdown of Wuhan amid sharp surge in COVID-19 cases

Beijing Tens of thousands of people in Wuhan the origin point and epicentre for the coronavirus pandemic began travelling out of the sprawling city on Wednesday as China lifted its 73day lockdown even as the number of fresh COVID19 cases crossed 1000 in the country and two new deaths heightened concerns of a rebound in infectionsThe Chinese health authority said on Wednesday that 62 new confirmed COVID19 cases were reported on the Chinese mainland on Tuesday including 59 cases of people returning from abroad taking the total tally to 1042Three new domestic cases were reported including two in Shandong Province and one in Guangdong Province the National Health Commission NHC said Also on Tuesday 137 new asymptomatic COVID19 cases were reported and 1095 asymptomatic cases were still under medical observation the NHC saidAsymptomatic coronavirus cases are those who test positive for the virus but do not show any symptoms and have the potential to cause sporadic clusters of infectionsTwo deaths were reported on Tuesday with one in Shanghai and the other in Hubei Province taking the overall death toll in the country to 3333 it said On Monday the NHC reported no deaths for the first time after it began publishing COVID19 daily reports since January this yearThe overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 81802 by Tuesday including 1190 patients still being treated 77279 patients discharged after recovery and 3333 people died of the diseaseWednesday is yet another landmark day in China as it lifted about the 73day lockdown of Wuhan city of 11 million people ending its painful isolation due to COVID19 which was first detected there in December last year No new confirmed case of coronavirus was reported on Tuesday in Hubei province and its capital Wuhan but the province recorded one deathHubei has so far reported 67803 confirmed COVID19 cases in total including 50008 in Wuhan On January 23 Wuhan declared unprecedented traffic restrictions including suspending the citys public transport and all outbound flights and trains in an attempt to contain the epidemicThe Wuhan lockdown was lifted even as epidemiologists warned that it is not the time to completely lower the guard and ease on fullscale restrictions considering the looming asymptomatic patients and possible rebound in infections the official media reportedAs the lockdown was lifted tens of thousands of people from Wuhan began leaving the city on Wednesday The government has lifted the ban on road air and train travel for all the locals who have acquired health certificatesCars queued up at expressway toll gates and passengers prepared to board trains to leave Wuhan as the megacity started lifting outbound travel restrictions staterun Xinhua news agency reportedAt Fuhe toll gate in nothern Wuhan cars honked and rushed out after barricades were removed at midnight Guo Lei who ran a business in Wuhan drove his car with six other people aboard to the toll gate at around 840 pm local time and waited for a homebound tripI cant wait returning to my hometown said Guo a native of east Chinas Shandong ProvinceI 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 saidBig data from Wuhan traffic police forecast the expressways would see the peak of outbound vehicles on WednesdayAs more enterprises resume their operations Wuhan has seen an increase of nearly 400000 vehicles in transit in the past half month and the number is expected to reach 18 million after Wednesday according to the citys traffic policeTraffic police will release realtime traffic information through radio stations online social platforms and map appsAt Wuchang Railway Station in the city 442 passengers jumped on the train K81 early Wednesday which is heading for Guangzhou capital of south Chinas Guangdong ProvinceMore than 55000 passengers are expected to leave Wuhan by train on Wednesday and about 40 per cent of them are going to the Pearl River Delta Region Over 270 passenger trains will leave Wuhan for Shanghai Shenzhen and other cities Xinhua report saidThe railway authorities required passengers to scan health codes and have temperatures checked when entering the stations and wear masks to reduce the risks of infectionWorkers have disinfected bullet trains the entrance and exits waiting halls and platforms of the railway stations in advanceWuhan Tianhe International Airport started resuming domestic passenger flights early Wednesday The airport is expected to see more than 200 inbound and outbound flights on the day according to the airportThe crew will wear goggles masks and gloves throughout the flight said Guo Binxue chief attendant of the flight MU2527 The first flight that is scheduled to depart from Wuhan at 725 am Wednesday since the citys lockdown was lifted It will be very smooth because we have made much preparation for this flight Guo saidFlight attendants would provide masks for passengers if they had fever cough and other symptoms and record their personal information and contact history within 14 days Guo said adding We have simplified the service process to better protect everyones healthThe central Hubei province has already lifted all the travel restrictionsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates