Residents clog streets and celebrate end of lockdown after 70 days at home

THE citizens of the Chinese city where the Covid-19 crisis began have been celebrating the end of the dark days after lockdown ended.

Tong Zhengkun was one of millions of people enjoying a renewed sense of freedom yesterday after two months indoors when the restrictions were lifted.

“I haven’t been outside for more than 70 days,” an emotional Mr Tong said as he watched a celebratory light display from a bridge across the broad Yangtze River flowing through the city. “Being indoors for so long drove me crazy.”

Streets in the city of 11 million people were clogged with traffic and long queues formed at the airport, railway and bus stations as thousands streamed out of the city to return to homes and jobs elsewhere.

Yellow barriers that had blocked off some streets were gone, although the gates to residential compounds remained guarded.

Mr Tong said his apartment complex was shut down after residents were found to have contracted the virus. Neighbourhood workers delivered groceries to his door.

Such measures will not be entirely abandoned following the end of the city’s closure, which began on

January 23 as the virus was raging through the city and overwhelming hospitals. Schools are still closed, temperatures are checked when people enter buildings and masks are strongly encouraged.

City leaders say they want to simultaneously bring back social and commercial life while avoiding a second wave of infections.

The ability to travel again is a huge relief, however, and about 65,000 people were expected to depart yesterday by plane and train.

Residents are now permitted to leave without special authorisation 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.

It did not take long for traffic to begin moving swiftly through the reopened bridges, tunnels and highway toll booths.

Nearly 1,000 vehicles went through a busy highway toll booth at Wuhan’s border between midnight, when barricades were lifted, and 7am, according to Yan Xiangsheng, a district police chief.

According to airport official Lou Guowei, the first departing flight, MU2527, left Wuhan Tianhe

International Airport for Sanya, a coastal city in Hainan province known for its beaches.

“The crew will wear goggles, masks, and gloves throughout the flight,” chief flight attendant Guo Binxue, was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency. “It will be very smooth because we have made much preparation for this flight.”

The government reported no new cases in the city yesterday.

The exact source of the virus remains under investigation, though many of the first Covid-19 patients were linked to an outdoor food market in the city.