COVID-19: Wuhan resumes services after easing two-month lockdown

Passengers were seen walking on the platform of the subway stations connected with Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan, the capital of central China's Hubei Province, after the authorities partly eased the more than two months of near total isolation for its population of 11 million due to the coronavirus outbreak, which is believed to have emerged in the 'wet markets' of the city itself.

Wuhan was placed under lockdown in January with roadblocks ring-fencing its outskirts and drastic restrictions on daily life. But the major transport and industrial hub has now signalled the end of its long isolation, with the first officially sanctioned passenger train arriving back into the city just after midnight, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We clearly remember that the metro service had been suspended for 65 days," Li Wei, a staff worker of the Wuhan metro service operator, was quoted as saying.

"I was startled when I first saw the news of shutting down the metro system as I never expected such scenario to happen one day," he added.

"We are excited and happy today to resume the service to serve the Wuhan residents again," Li said.

Passengers for six metro lines in the capital of Hubei Province are asked to scan their health QR codes with real name information and check body temperature before entering the metro stations and wear face masks during the whole journey. Many were seen even wearing rubber gloves and hats that can cover the face.

The subway service operator has installed 200 infrared intelligent temperature monitoring equipment at 182 subway stations that are back to service in the initial period.

Inside the subway carriages, there are yellow signs that ask passengers to sit with an empty seat between two of them and security guards who tell people to wear masks during the whole of their trips, not to assemble and scan trip-tracking codes when getting off the subway.

The trip tracking is designed to aid the epidemic prevention and control work. To reduce potential cross-infection, the subway carriages will also be disinfected partly every day and entirely every five days.

"We are finally back. I can go to work next Monday," said a subway passenger surnamed Yang, who just arrived in Wuhan Saturday with another two family members carrying eggs, preserved meat and vegetables from Sichuan Province.

On Saturday, the Wuhan railway station resumed the arrival service as the epidemic waned. More than 12,000 Hubei passengers returned to Wuhan by high-speed trains from all over the country on Saturday, greeted by applauses and flowers at the station.

China is now battling to control a wave of imported cases as infections soar abroad. The country has so far reported over 81,000 cases and more than 3,000 deaths.