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

Topline: People poured into the streets of Wuhan, China, on Wednesday after the government lifted a nearly 11-week ban on most travel outside the home, a harsh measure to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which is believed to have originated in the city.

• Citizens of Wuhan, an industrial city of 11 million, are still facing coronavirus restrictions, as schools are closed and travel is discouraged; but that didn’t stop residents from swarming to airports, rail stations and highways the moment the lockdown was lifted at midnight.
• To be in public, residents must still pass temperatures checks and show proof of health on their phone, used by an app that calculates a “health code,” based in part on whether their neighborhood has been declared virus-free, according to AFP.

Key background: The lockdown was lifted the day after China reported no new coronavirus deaths on Tuesday for the first time since the pandemic began. However, it comes amid reports that China’s official counts are far lower than the actual number of coronavirus cases. Beijing officials may not know the true extent of the pandemic in China, because midlevel officials in Wuhan and other areas have lied about infection rates, testing and death counts out of fear of punishment, American intelligence sources have reportedly claimed.