China’s Virus Pandemic Epicenter Wuhan Ends 76-Day Lockdown

WUHAN, China (AP) — The lockdown that served as a model for countries battling the coronavirus around the world is set to end after 11 weeks.

Chinese authorities are moving to allow residents of Wuhan to once again travel in and out of the sprawling city where the pandemic began.

Just after midnight Wednesday, the city’s 11 million residents will be permitted to leave without special authorization as long as a mandatory smartphone application shows they are healthy and have not been in recent contact with anyone confirmed to have the virus.

Wuhan is where most of China’s more than 82,000 reported virus cases and over 3,300 deaths took place.