Confusion in Wuhan as move to ease coronavirus lockdown is reversed

Notice saying visitors without symptoms who were trapped in the city could leave is revoked three hours after it is issued

Local government says it was released without approval and those responsible had been reprimanded

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Wuhan, ground zero of the coronavirus epidemic, has been under lockdown since January 23. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:04pm, 24 Feb 2020Updated: 8:04pm, 24 Feb 2020

Just three hours after announcing that visitors trapped in Wuhan – the Chinese city at the heart of the coronavirus epidemic – could leave on Monday, authorities reversed the decision, saying it had been made without approval.

The local government revoked the notice it said had been issued by a subordinate working group from the city’s disease control command centre without approval from their superiors.

The centre, headed by Wuhan mayor Zhou Xianwang, said the officials who had issued the order without authorisation had been reprimanded.

“Wuhan resolutely adheres to the spirit of Chinese President Xi [Jinping] … strictly controls every exit from Wuhan and the management of personnel, in order to prevent the spread of the [coronavirus],” it said in a statement retracting the earlier notice.

Extreme lockdown measures have been in place in Wuhan – capital of Hubei and home to 11 million people – since January 23, with all residential areas quarantined and roads and transport links closed.

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