In Photos: Wuhan Welcomes 57,000 Students Back To School For The First Time Since Lockdown Ended

TOPLINE

Some 57,000 students in Wuhan, the Chinese city where COVID-19 was first reported, are returning to school today for the first time since a strict 76-day lockdown in the city was lifted.

KEY FACTS

Key background

Coronavirus cases in Wuhan account for the vast majority of the 84,000 reported cases in mainland China, with more than 50,000 cases to date in the city, out of 68,000 in Hubei province. The novel coronavirus is thought to have been detected for the first time at a wet market in the city in December 2019, and after an initially slow response, prompted Chinese authorities to shut down major Lunar new year plans, shut down travel out of Hubei, and eventually order people to stay in their homes. The virus, declared a pandemic on March 11 by the World Health Organization, has since infected more than 3.6 million people worldwide, while nearly 260,000 people with COVID-19 have died.

While cases and deaths in China appear to have fallen significantly, Chinese health officials are on alert for a potential second wave of the virus as asymptomatic and imported cases continue to crop up. Beijing has been accused by the U.S. concealing the true scale of the epidemic, but Chinese authorities have denied a cover up, and maintain that the country is “winning its war” against the virus.

Further reading

Photos: Joy As Wuhan Opens After 76-Day Coronavirus Lockdown (Forbes)

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