Tens of thousands prepare to leave Wuhan after spending two months in coronavirus lockdown

Wuhan natives with jobs in other parts of China are looking to get back to work after being trapped in the city at the height of the Covid-19 outbreak

From midnight on Wednesday people were free to leave the city and public transport started to return to normal

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Passengers started gathering at Wuhan’s main station on Tuesday before restrictions on leaving the city were lifted at midnight. Photo: Simon Song

Published: 12:47am, 8 Apr 2020Updated: 6:01pm, 8 Apr 2020

Tens of thousands of people who spent the last two months locked down in Wuhan were preparing to leave the city to return to jobs in other parts of the country after the unprecedented restrictions on movement were lifted on Wednesday.

The ban was lifted two weeks after a similar relaxation in the rest of Hubei province, which has a population of 60 million, roughly the size of Italy’s.

People can now leave the city if they have been given a clean bill of health and much of the city’s transport services, including ferries and taxis, will be allowed to resume operations.

People will still need to carry a QR code or paperwork showing they are in good health before being allowed to leave residential compounds and use public transport or enter shops.

Tang Zhiyong, a Wuhan native and vice-president of furniture company Red Star Macalline, said he was planning to head for Shanghai, where the company is based, on Wednesday.

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