Thousands of travellers flocked to catch trains leaving Wuhan early Wednesday as authorities lifted a more than two-month ban on outbound travel from the hard-hit Chinese city where the global coronavirus pandemic first emerged. “Wuhan has lost a lot in this epidemic, and Wuhan people have paid a big price,” said a 21-year-old man surnamed Yao, who was heading back to his restaurant job in Shanghai. China’s ruling Communist Party imposed a quarantine lockdown on tens of millions of people — first in Wuhan and then the rest of Hubei province — beginning January 23, making the central Chinese city the first place in the world subjected to draconian restrictions now seen in many countries.
