“After two months trapped at home, I want to
jump,” she added, jumping up and down excitedly.
A teacher in the eastern city of Nanjing, Kat
was among those trapped in Wuhan when the
central Chinese manufacturing hub was shut
down as the virus spread.
While governments worldwide were tightening
travel and other controls, the ruling Communist
Party has rolled back curbs on Wuhan and other
areas as it tries to revive the world’s second-
largest economy after declaring victory over
the outbreak.
The city in Hubei province is the last major
population center still under travel controls.
Residents were allowed to go to other parts
of Hubei but could not leave the province.
Restrictions on other Hubei residents were lifted
March 23. The final curbs on Wuhan end April 8.
Wuhan became the center of the most intensive
anti-disease controls ever imposed after the
virus emerged in December. Some researchers
suggest it may have jumped to humans from a
bat at one of the city’s wildlife markets.
The ruling party suppressed information about
the outbreak and reprimanded doctors in Wuhan
who tried to warn the public. As late as Jan. 19,
city leaders went ahead with a dinner for 40,000
households to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Local leaders held one more event, a Jan. 22
holiday gala at which musicians and actors were
sniffling and coughing, before the government
acknowledged the severity of the problem. The
next morning, residents awoke to news that
their sprawling city that straddles the Yangtze
River was cut off from the outside world.