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Stores, shopping malls reopen in Wuhan as city gradually revives from coronavirus outbreak
Ng Han Guan and Joe McDonald
Associated Press
Live updates
Wuhan in Hubei province is the last city still under travel controls. Residents are allowed to go to other parts of Hubei but cannot 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.
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 sneezing, 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.
Police set up roadblocks at expressway entrances. Only truckers leaving the city to collect food and a handful of other drivers with official passes were allowed through. Bus and subway service inside Wuhan shut down.
Restaurants, shops, cinemas and other businesses were ordered to close, leaving streets empty and silent in a foreshadowing of controls that would spread to other countries. Families were ordered to stay home.
Restrictions spread to cities around Wuhan and eventually expanded to cover some 800 million people, or more than half of China’s population. Restaurants, shopping malls, factories and other businesses were closed nationwide and families were told to stay home.
Amazon workers to strike; Virginians ordered to stay home; US deaths surgeIs 6 feet enough for social distancing?Food delivery services you can use during coronavirus pandemicGet the latest news straight to your phone: Download the USA TODAY app
Wuhan became the center of a massive effort to treat the sick, understand the virus and stop its spread. Two temporary hospitals with more than 1,000 beds each were built and a third one was set up in an exhibition center. Hundreds of military doctors and nurses were dispatched to the city, along with tons of medical supplies.
President Xi Jinping visited Wuhan for the first time March 10 in a show of official confidence that the virus was under control. The next day, the government began to ease controls on Hubei, allowing some factories and other businesses deemed essential to the economy or to producing daily necessities to reopen.
On Monday, some parents were on the streets with children, but traffic was light on streets that normally are jammed with cars.
The owner of a candy shop on the Chuhe Hanjie mall said two of her four employees are back at work, but she wasn’t sure whether the others were willing to come back.
“We’ve only prepared a little stock,” said the owner, Li Zhen. “Most people are still afraid of the virus.”
A poster at the entrance to the pedestrian mall asked customers to wear masks, cooperate with fever checks and show a smartphone health code.
A banner nearby said, “Wuhan We Are Coming Back. Thank You.”
Two women who wore protective clothing that identified them as medical workers were surrounded by pedestrians who waved Chinese flags at them in a gesture of gratitude. Li gave them bags of candy.
“We may have to wait for a while to see when things can return to normal,” said Li.
McDonald reported from Beijing. Contributing: Olivia Zhang
Ng Han Guan and Joe McDonald
Associated Press
Live updates
Wuhan in Hubei province is the last city still under travel controls. Residents are allowed to go to other parts of Hubei but cannot 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.
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 sneezing, 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.
Police set up roadblocks at expressway entrances. Only truckers leaving the city to collect food and a handful of other drivers with official passes were allowed through. Bus and subway service inside Wuhan shut down.
Restaurants, shops, cinemas and other businesses were ordered to close, leaving streets empty and silent in a foreshadowing of controls that would spread to other countries. Families were ordered to stay home.
Restrictions spread to cities around Wuhan and eventually expanded to cover some 800 million people, or more than half of China’s population. Restaurants, shopping malls, factories and other businesses were closed nationwide and families were told to stay home.
Amazon workers to strike; Virginians ordered to stay home; US deaths surgeIs 6 feet enough for social distancing?Food delivery services you can use during coronavirus pandemicGet the latest news straight to your phone: Download the USA TODAY app
Wuhan became the center of a massive effort to treat the sick, understand the virus and stop its spread. Two temporary hospitals with more than 1,000 beds each were built and a third one was set up in an exhibition center. Hundreds of military doctors and nurses were dispatched to the city, along with tons of medical supplies.
President Xi Jinping visited Wuhan for the first time March 10 in a show of official confidence that the virus was under control. The next day, the government began to ease controls on Hubei, allowing some factories and other businesses deemed essential to the economy or to producing daily necessities to reopen.
On Monday, some parents were on the streets with children, but traffic was light on streets that normally are jammed with cars.
The owner of a candy shop on the Chuhe Hanjie mall said two of her four employees are back at work, but she wasn’t sure whether the others were willing to come back.
“We’ve only prepared a little stock,” said the owner, Li Zhen. “Most people are still afraid of the virus.”
A poster at the entrance to the pedestrian mall asked customers to wear masks, cooperate with fever checks and show a smartphone health code.
A banner nearby said, “Wuhan We Are Coming Back. Thank You.”
Two women who wore protective clothing that identified them as medical workers were surrounded by pedestrians who waved Chinese flags at them in a gesture of gratitude. Li gave them bags of candy.
“We may have to wait for a while to see when things can return to normal,” said Li.
McDonald reported from Beijing. Contributing: Olivia Zhang
