After authorities lifted a more than two-month ban on outbound travel from the city of Wuhan, the first train departed Wednesday morning from here, the origin point for the global coronavirus pandemic.The residents once again were allowed to travel in and out of the sprawling central Chinese city.This signals the normal resumption of life for the city of 11 million people ,while the world still tackles the pandemic.
As the ban was lifted on schedule at midnight (9.30 p.m. IST on April 7), several passengers expressed joy and relief as they headed into Wuhan’s Wuchang station, leaping at the chance to board overnight trains heading out of town. Cars were seen queued up at expressway toll gates. and passengers prepared to board trains to leave Wuhan.
Government estimated about 55,000 people are likely to flow out on Wednesday by train from the city, most of whom are heading to the Pearl River Delta, home to many of China’s warehouses.
.Wuhan’s unprecedented lockdown considered as a model for countries battling the pandemic globally. With restrictions lifted, Wuhan now embarks on another experiment: resuming business and ordinary life while seeking to keep the number of new cases down.
From now on, the city’s 11 million residents are permitted to leave without special authorization as long as a mandatory smartphone application powered by a mix of data-tracking and government surveillance shows they are healthy and have not been in recent contact with anyone confirmed to have the virus.
The provincial authorities have also lifted the temporary hold it had imposed on the local transport and inter-province transport, bringing back the crowds on the streets of Wuhan, as media reported.
