The Chinese province at the center of the coronavirus pandemic shows hope as it opens its gates to the world.
By Tanzia Haq
For Wuhan residents, life has been on a standstill since the city was shut down on 23 January to stop the spread of the contagious virus. After more than two months, at midnight on Wednesday, citizens were allowed to leave their homes and traffic has resumed in the city.
Officials in Wuhan have turned the opening into an event, lighting up buildings with messages like “Hello, Wuhan” and hosting social media campaigns to countdown the reopening of the city’s main transport routes, domestic flights and factories. Although the city has been gradually lifting its ban on movement, allowing certain workers to leave their homes over the last few weeks, Wednesday marked the official date for the total resumption of activity.
Although this marks hope for other cities around the world who are still in lockdown, not all restrictions by state government have been removed, suggesting that officials do not believe the crisis has been completely averted. Schools and colleges still remain closed, with authorities announcing that the dates for reopening will be “decided after the evaluation of prevention efforts”. The city has recorded 82,000 cases and over 3,300 deaths since the outbreak began, and officials are vigilant about preventing a resurgence. The city’s restrictions were only lifted after it was announced on Tuesday that new cases have completely stopped in the province.
The Chinese newspaper ‘People’s Daily’ said on Weibo that “Zero new cases doesn’t mean zero risk. Opening up the city gates does not mean opening up the door to one’s home.”
Wuhan is an industrial hub of China, boasting a heavy auto manufacturing industry. To recharge the struggling businesses in the wake of the pandemic, a budget of 20 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) in loans could be implemented, according to city officials. Party Secretary Wang Zhonglin, personally inspected Wuhan’s train stations and airports on Monday, stating that the city has to “enforce prevention while opening up, maintain safety and orderliness and the assurance of stability.”
