Residents of Wuhan are being allowed to leave the Chinese city for the first time in more than two months as strict social distancing measures are lifted.
However, the city’s 11 million residents are now finally allowed to quit the area as long as they have a “green” code on a widely used smartphone health app that indicates whether the infection status of the user, says the BBC.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
China reported no new coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, the first day without confirmed fatalities since the authorities began publishing the figures. Beijing has credited strict lockdown measures for the turnaround.
In Wuhan, travel was banned and most businesses closed. However, the measures have been eased gradually over the past month, with shopping malls re-opening and some residents of “epidemic-free” areas of the city allowed out of their homes for two hours a day.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
From Wednesday, Wuhaners will be able to use public transport again too, provided they can produce a QR code on their smartphone health app confirming they are well.
Workers making medical supplies and daily essentials will return to work, and “industries that impact national or global supply chains will also be able to re-open”, says the BBC.
Around 200 flights are scheduled to leave Wuhan on Wednesday, carrying a total of around 10,000 passengers.
Chinese state media has also shown images of nearly 100 high-speed trains ready to depart Wuhan, while motorway roadblocks have been removed.
However, schools will remain closed, and some compounds are still locked down because they do not have “epidemic-free” status.
-
Political cartoons for January 24Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include 3D chess, political distractions, and more
-
Ryanair/SpaceX: could Musk really buy the airline?Talking Point Irish budget carrier has become embroiled in unlikely feud with the world’s wealthiest man
-
Claudette Colvin: teenage activist who paved the way for Rosa ParksIn The Spotlight Inspired by the example of 19th century abolitionists, 15-year-old Colvin refused to give up her seat on an Alabama bus
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
