CNN News:武汉封城两个半月后解封 欧洲多国计划效仿

After more than two months, the lockdown has been lifted in the first Chinese city to see coronavirus cases. Is this something we can expect to happen in other places in the months ahead? Wuhan, China was where the outbreak was first reported last December, though there are indications it was spreading before that. The city of 11 million people was put on lockdown on January 23. Two and a half later on Wednesday Wuhan's borders were reopened. People in good health could leave the city. Trains started running. Flights resumed, though there are no direct routes to the Chinese capital Beijing. There are still some restrictions in place in Wuhan and the coronavirus threat isn't over in China or elsewhere.

There are indications that some European countries are planning to follow China's example in terms of when to lift their lockdowns and the timing of that is tricky. It's better for economies if restrictions are lifted but health officials say if that's done too soon the virus could surge again leading to more problems. The disease continues to spread and claim lives in the United States. Officials are hoping that after this week things will start to get better with the number of deaths decreasing and the spread slowing down in some hard hit areas. But this doesn't mean that businesses and schools will reopen soon.
Companies are still laying off employees or suspending their hours and pay and a top U.S. health official says he's optimistic that schools will be open nationwide by the fall, though communities will have to be more proactive in identifying and isolating the virus. Before many schools closed and shifted to online learning, professional sporting events were cancelled across America.