Pakistani students celebrate as China lifts 76-day Wuhan lockdown

On Apr 8, 2020 Last updated Oct 4, 2021

WUHAN: Pakistani students threw a party after the Chinese government ended its 76-day lockdown in Wuhan, the original epicenter of the coronavirus.

The official twitter handle of Chinese Embassy in Pakistan tweeted the photo of Pakistani students celebrating the occasion in Wuhan.

“Wuhan ends months-long lockdown as COVID-19 is now controlled. Pakistani students in Wuhan threw a party in their dorms for the first time since Covid-19 hit Wuhan, China. Together we will defeat #Covid-19,” the Chinese embassy Pakistan tweeted.

Wuhan ends months-long lockdown as COVID-19 is now controlled. Pakistani students in Wuhan threw a party in their dorms for the first time since Covid-19 hit Wuhan, China. Together we will defeat #Covid-19 @ForeignOfficePk @zfrmrza @AmbNaghmanaHash @MFA_China @zlj517 @WorldPTV pic.twitter.com/q3iSA5ZuiO

— Chinese Emb Pakistan (@CathayPak) April 8, 2020

Around 500 Pakistanis, mostly students, were believed to be staying in Wuhan. Several students had made fervent appeal to the Imran Khan government to airlift them, but government had refused to evacuate them citing “larger interests” of the region and the world.

Meanwhile, heallthy residents and visitors were finally allowed to leave Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, with trains and flights resumed and highway entrances reopened.

The easing of travel restrictions on Wuhan is the latest milestone in China’s fight against Covid-19. The country reported nearly zero new local infections in recent weeks, leading to similar restrictive measures being lifted for other parts of Hubei province late last month. Luo Ping, an epidemic control official in Wuhan, told CCTV Sunday that the lifting of the lockdown marks a “full restart” of the city’s economic and social activities from their previous “suspension.” But he warned the city faces an arduous task preventing imported cases and a recurrence of local infections.

Previously quiet train and bus stations bustled as an exodus began from the city of 11 million, with some passengers wearing hazmat suits.

Hao Mei, a single parent from the nearby city of Enshi, said her two children had been home alone since she got stuck in Wuhan, where she works in a school kitchen.

“You have no idea! I was already up around 4 am. I felt so good. My kids are so excited. Mum is finally coming home,” the 39-year-old told AFP as she waited to board a train.

“At the start of the lockdown, I cried every night. I was really miserable, because my little girl is still young, she’s only 10.”

Up to 55,000 people are expected to leave Wuhan on Wednesday just by train, according to government estimates.