Thousands of Chinese travellers flocked to catch trains leaving coronavirus-ravaged Wuhan as authorities lifted a more than two-month ban on outbound travel from the city where the global pandemic first emerged.
As the ban was lifted on schedule at midnight (9.30 p.m. IST on April 7), many passengers expressed joy and relief as they filed into Wuhan’s Wuchang station, leaping at the chance to board overnight trains heading out of town.
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“Wuhan has lost a lot in this epidemic, and Wuhan people have paid a big price,” said a 21-year-old man surnamed Yao, who was heading back to his restaurant job in Shanghai. “Now that the lockdown has been lifted, I think we’re all pretty happy.”
Government estimates have said that as many as 55,000 people are expected to flow out on April 8 by train from the city, which was placed under an unprecedented quarantine lockdown on January 23.
Some could barely contain their happiness.
“I’ve been stuck for 77 days! I’ve been stuck for 77 days!” shouted one man from the neighbouring Province of Hunan, who was in Wuhan when it was sealed off.
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The lockdown made Wuhan the first place in the world subjected to draconian containment steps now seen in many countries.
It was quickly followed by the rest of surrounding Hubei Province, confining tens of millions of people to their homes and cutting the province off from the rest of the world as transport in and out was halted to prevent transmission of the virus.
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Long time, no see
Chinese media outlets hailed the removal of the travel ban, with headlines posted on their websites after midnight saying: “Wuhan, long time, no see.”
Hubei and the provincial capital Wuhan have suffered the majority of China’s officially claimed tally of more than 81,000 overall infections and more than 3,300 deaths.
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