Wuhan to lift outbound travel curbs from April 8

WUHAN: The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus pandemic originated last December, will lift outbound travel curbs from April 8 after over two months of lockdown, authorities said on Tuesday.

People in Wuhan will be allowed to leave the city and Hubei province if they hold a green health code, meaning no contact with any infected or suspected COVID-19 cases, Xinhua news agency quoted a circular issued by the provincial COVID-19 control headquarters as saying. 

Other areas in Hubei, of which Wuhan is the capital, will lift outbound transportation restrictions from Wednesday, the circular said. The development came as Wuhan for the last five days did not report any domestic coronavirus case.

On January 23, Wuhan declared unprecedented traffic restrictions, including suspending the city’s public transport and all outbound flights and trains, in an attempt to contain the epidemic within its territory. As of Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases in China increased to 81,545, while the death toll stood at 3,281, according to the latest updates by the Washington-based John Hopkins University.

The number of global confirmed cases was 381,598, while the death toll stood at 16,559, the updates revealed.