WUHAN, China: Six months after the World Health Organization learned of “viral pneumonia” cases that would become the COVID-19 pandemic, life in Wuhan, the city where it emerged, is returning to normal, although masks remain ubiquitous and emotional scars linger. A city of 11 million, Wuhan was locked down for two months starting in late January in a draconian measure that helped stamp out the virus at its initial epicentre. Hubei province and its capital city Wuhan accounted for most of China’s 83,531 new coronavirus cases and 4,634 deaths. “As time goes on, the epidemic situation is slowly getting better and the virus has basically gone for now,” said resident Pan Yuan, 35. “We will take off masks when we go to some places with low risk. Though we are told there is no need to wear masks in Wuhan, people still wear masks,” she said. “I still feel sad when talking about it.” China has contained the outbreak, thanks to measures such as widespread testing and contact-tracing, although it is dealing with a flare-up this month in Beijing.
