Wuhan, the centre of the coronavirus outbreak in China eases lockdown as movement is restored and residents allowed to go back to work

Wuhan, the centre of the coronavirus outbreak in China, has loosened its two-month lockdown on citizens with movements partially restored as they are gradually overcoming the virus and returning to normal life.

According to the UK Guardian, small groups of residents in the central Chinese city were seen on Monday leaving their residential compounds, going to grocery stores and walking along the streets for the first time in weeks.

The publication disclosed that the first train arrived in the city ferrying more than 1,000 workers from elsewhere in the province back to the city for work at the weekend.

There were also reports of traffic jams in Beijing on Monday morning.

This comes a day after local authorities said residents could begin returning to work if they did not have a temperature and could provide a green health code, signifying their virus-free status as well as a certificate from their employer.

The city would be “gradually” reopened and public transportation would resume. Non-residents, those stranded in Wuhan since the stringent travel restrictions went into effect on 23 January, could also begin applying to leave the city, city authorities said.

The authorities also confirmed that locally transmitted infections in China have dropped dramatically over the last weeks, but imported cases continue to rise.

On Monday, China reported 39 new cases from the previous day, all of which were from imported cases, according to the National Health Commission.

There have now been over 81,000 cases in China, and the death toll has reached 3,270. Globally, there are 350,457 cases of coronavirus with 15, 317 deaths, while 100,354 people have recovered from the disease.