China to ease virus lockdown where pandemic began
HONG KONG — The Chinese province of Hubei, where the coronavirus pandemic began, will begin allowing most of its 60 million residents to leave Wednesday, ending nearly two months of lockdown and sending a strong signal of the government’s confidence that its tough measures have worked to control the outbreak.
Wuhan, the provincial capital and the city hardest hit by the virus, will remain sealed off until April 8, though public transportation there will start running again, the government said.
The easing of the lockdown is the latest sign that China appears to have successfully tamed the epidemic by placing sweeping restrictions on hundreds of millions of people, while governments elsewhere flounder. Across Europe and the United States, new cases continue to surge, medical supplies are running low and many hospitals are overwhelmed. Government officials worldwide are ordering their citizens to stay home — much as China did to Hubei at the start of the outbreak.
The ruling Communist Party drew heavy criticism at first for its approach, which many both domestically and abroad saw as heavy-handed, even draconian. But in recent weeks, the party has aggressively promoted its strategy as a model for other countries.
The loosening also reflects the urgency with which the party wants to restart the economy, which recorded double-digit drops in certain sectors in the first quarter this year — a potentially major threat to the government’s legitimacy. Consistent economic growth is the backbone of the party’s hold on power: It promises its citizens prosperity and stability in exchange for virtually unchallenged control.
And the lifting of Hubei’s restrictions still do not mean free travel within China. Many provinces and cities have made it easier for residents to move around, but have essentially shut themselves off to travelers from elsewhere.
“We need to worry about a second wave of the outbreak once restrictions are limited,” Malik Peiris, chief of virology at the University of Hong Kong, said. “It is important to be aware of it and monitor it — and be prepared to reimpose these measures if they become necessary in the future.”
Not everyone is convinced the threat has fully passed. Hours before the loosening of restrictions was announced, officials in Wuhan, after several days of reporting zero new local infections, said a doctor there had tested positive for the virus.
News reports have also claimed that health officials are finding but not publicizing a number of people with infections but no symptoms, raising fears that the virus is still silently spreading. In addition, cases continue to climb among people arriving in China from overseas.
Chinese officials count only patients with both symptoms and a positive test in their official tally of confirmed cases.