Wuhan, the city hit hardest by the coronavirus outbreak in China, cleared all COVID-19 cases in hospital on Sunday. The Yellow Crane Tower, a landmark tourist attraction in the city, will also start to welcome tourists from Wednesday.
These positive signals once again showed that China's nationwide anti-virus efforts had achieved preliminary victory, following the lifting of the city's outbound travel restrictions on April 8 after being put into lockdown for almost 11 weeks.
Though it is hard-won and the city still needs to stay vigilant to prevent a resurgence, it "offers hope for how a strong rebound from this crisis can happen," according to Dr. Ali Obaid Al Dhaheri, UAE's Ambassador to China, in an opinion piece published in the Gulf News recently.
The lockdown decision for a city of 11 million residents, advised by epidemiologists and announced by political leaders, was without precedent. It turned out to be completely effective in curbing the virus from spreading both inside and outside Wuhan.
A blocked Wuhan not only bought time for the country and the world, but also served as a warning to the world on the severity of the virus. It's people, who have made great sacrifices and fought a brave war against the common enemy of humanity, deserve sympathy and respect.
Now Wuhan is attracting extensive attention worldwide as the city faces another test to strike a delicate balance between maintaining an effective epidemic response and restoring ordinary life and work. It was reported that more than 40 foreign media came to Wuhan for interviews since its re-opening.
As the auto hub in China, Wuhan is also home to high-tech industries such as chip-making, bearing great economic significance to the central hinterland. At the beginning of April, its work resumption rate has far exceeded expectations by surpassing 97%.
In its latest meeting on the economic situation, the Municipal government aimed to sure 100% work resumption rate by the end of this month, by taking measures including investment, promoting consumption, relieving difficulties for enterprises, optimizing business environment, among others.
Meanwhile, Wuhan is also reaching out to the world. According to reports, 22 freight flights have flown out of Wuhan from April 8 to 25, sending more than 20 million US dollars worth of materials to the world, most of which are anti-epidemic materials, including more than 80 million masks. From March 28 to April 27, nine China-Europe freight trains also departed from Wuhan, delivering 794 TEU containers of export goods to European countries.
Wuhan, once the epicenter of the outbreak, is now basked in the warm spring breeze. Life is gradually returning to normal, and the city is regaining its vitality, which was hard to imagine more than two months ago.
If Wuhan can do it, the world can do it, too.