China to end Wuhan lockdown on April 8

China said it will end travel curbs at the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic. Today’s announcement comes as 1.7 billion people across the world are in strict lockdowns in the governments’ bid to slow the spread of the virus.
Officials said that Hubei province, where the virus first emerged in December, will allow healthy residents to travel from midnight, two months after the lockdown was imposed. The region has reported zero new infections for four days. The relaxation of measures will not apply to the hardest-hit city of Wuhan until April 8. The city of 11 million was put in lockdown on January 23.
Meanwhile, the lockdowns in the rest of the world continue to be in place, as the epicenter is now Europe. United Kingdom’s prime minister Boris Johnson ordered a three-week shutdown of “non-essential” shops and services and banned gatherings of more than two people. The measures were tightened after citizens did not take them seriously and could be seen gathering outside.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the pandemic was accelerating.
Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe said today that the Tokyo Olympic Games may need to be postponed, after the International Olympic Committee faced a mounting pressure from athletes, federations and national committees to postpone the Games.
The number of deaths from the virus has topped 16,200, with more than 360,000 infections in 174 countries.