{"id":204420,"date":"2020-03-24T08:08:23","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T08:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=204420"},"modified":"2020-03-26T07:19:36","modified_gmt":"2020-03-26T07:19:36","slug":"checkpoints-in-wuhan-are-taken-down-other-cities-in-china-ease-controls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=204420","title":{"rendered":"Checkpoints in Wuhan are taken down, other cities in China ease controls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Linda Lew \u2013 South China Morning Post March 21, 2020<\/h1>\n
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Man found dead on Wuhan street during the initial phase of the virus outbreak. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

Some in Wuhan, the Chinese city hit hardest by the coronavirus<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, celebrated with fireworks as authorities began removing checkpoints after reporting no new cases for a third day, while other places also eased restrictions.<\/span><\/p>\n

The command centre handling the crisis ordered that the checkpoints \u2013 set up when the city was locked down in January to contain the spread of the virus \u2013 be cleared starting from Friday, as Wuhan prepares to return to work.<\/span><\/p>\n

But routes out of the city would remain blocked, according to a notice issued by the command centre.<\/span><\/p>\n

A video posted on social media by Dahe Daily<\/em> on Saturday showed several checkpoints being taken down in Huangpi district, and fireworks being set off to celebrate the removal of one in Xinzhou district.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, not everyone was cheering the development, with some of the city\u2019s 11 million residents questioning how reliable the official data was.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wen Ji, who lives in the city and runs photography classes online, confirmed that checkpoints within the city were being removed. But she doubted whether there really had been no new cases of Covid-19 in the past three days.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe this number \u2013 I think it\u2019s safer to keep staying at home,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The crisis would be over when people could come and go freely from the city, according to Wen, who referred to a joke circulating online that \u201cwe know we\u2019re healthy, they know we\u2019re healthy \u2026 but no one is brave enough to let us leave\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Andy Wang, a volunteer driver who has been ferrying medical workers to and from hospitals, said he was happy to see the checkpoints go and looked forward to being \u201chonourably discharged\u201d when public transport resumed and he was no longer needed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI can see Wuhan is almost at the point of victory, and life will probably go back to normal soon,\u201d he said. \u201cI hope all those who were fighting the epidemic can go home and reunite with their families.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n