The central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus is believed to have originated, remains under lockdown after more than 50 days, even as the world’s attention has shifted to other hotspots.
Fascinating pictures show – through windows and on balconies and rooftops – how Wuhan residents holed up in their apartments are getting on with their lives.
People can be seen hanging laundry. Children play. One man eats noodles. Another smokes a cigarette.
Chinese officials and some public health experts have credited the draconian confinement measures on a city of 11million, and much of Hubei province, of which it is the capital, with slowing the spread of the disease and turning the tide of infection across China.
A woman is seen drying food outside a laundry rack by the window of a building in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus
Wuhan has remained under lockdown after more than 50 days, even as the world’s attention has shifted to other hotspots. A woman is pictured hanging laundry to dry at a residential complex in Wuhan, where the coronavirus is believed to originate
Astonishing pictures show through windows and on balconies and rooftops – how Wuhan residents holed up in their apartments are getting on with their lives. People are seen looking outside of the windows from their homes in Wuhan
Other countries, including Iran, Italy and the United States, are struggling to manage their outbreaks.
But even as the number of new reported cases falls in Wuhan, people in the city remain suspended in an isolated new normal.
Residents are forbidden from venturing out of their homes even to buy food, which must be delivered. Schools and most shops remain shut, and roads are virtually empty.
On Tuesday, Wuhan closed the last of 14 makeshift hospitals set up to treat and isolate patients after the outbreak had overwhelmed the city’s healthcare system.
Chinese officials and some public health experts have credited the draconian confinement measures on a city of 11 million, and much of Hubei province, of which it is the capital, with slowing the spread of the disease and turning the tide of infection
The picture shows an elderly man standing on a balcony at a residential complex in Wuhan, Hubei Province of central China
Children are pictured playing football on the rooftop of a building as their lives have been put on hold due to the coronavirus
A man is seen standing on the terrace of a building. He is among the 11million Wuhan residents who are under lockdown
Even as the number of new reported cases falls in Wuhan, people in the city remain suspended in an isolated new normal. A man under the city’s lockdown is pictured wearing a face mask and standing on the terrace of a residential building in Wuhan
Residents are forbidden from venturing out of their homes even to buy food, which must be delivered. A woman and a man are pictured looking on their mobile phones at a residential complex in Wuhan city, Hubei Province of central China
On Tuesday, Wuhan closed the last of 14 makeshift hospitals set up to treat and isolate patients after the outbreak had overwhelmed the city’s healthcare system. A man is captured eating noodles next to his balcony in Wuhan, China
A woman is pictured knitting while sitting on the rooptop of a building at a residential compound during the virus lockdown
Schools and most shops in Wuhan remain shut, and roads are virtually empty. The picture shows a row of residential buildings
A man under self-isolation is seen looking out of the window at a residential complex in Wuhan during the virus outbreak
A woman is pictured looking outside from her balcony as 11million Wuhan residents have been under self-quarantine
In a dramatic sign that the situation is improving, President Xi Jinping made a high-profile visit to the stricken city on Tuesday, his first since the outbreak began.
Hubei officials have released a statement today ordering businesses in Wuhan gradually resume to normal as the number of new cases continue to fall.
Nearly 50,000 coronavirus cases have been reported in Wuhan, with 2,423 deaths, making it the location hardest-hit by far in an epidemic that has infected more than 121,000 people globally and killed over 4,400.
The outbreak has also exacted an unquantifiable psychological toll on people in Wuhan as families cope with loss, children are unable to go to school or play outside, and livelihoods are imperilled as people can’t go to work.
A man is pictured standing on the terrace of a building at a residential complex in Wuhan, Hubei Province of central China
The picture shows a Chinese man walking on the rooftop of a building at a residential complex during the virus epidemic
Nearly 50,000 coronavirus cases have been reported in Wuhan, with 2,423 deaths, making it the location hardest-hit by far. The picture shows a woman standing on the terrace of a building at a residential complex in Wuhan city, Hubei Province
High-rise residential buildings are pictured in Wuhan city of central China, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus disease
An Chinese woman is spotted placing food out on a balcony to dry at a residential compound in Wuhan, Hubei Province
The picture shows an elderly woman leaning out of a window above closed shops blocked by barricades in Wuhan city
A man is pictured standing next to laundry on a balcony at a residential compound in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. The deadly disease has so far infected over 121,000 people worldwide
The outbreak has also exacted an unquantifiable psychological toll on people in Wuhan as families cope with loss, children are unable to go to school or play outside, and livelihoods are imperilled as people can’t go to work
The picture shows a man looking out of the window of a residential building in Wuhan, Hubei Province of central China
A child is pictured playing next to adults sitting on the roof terrace of a building at a residential compound in Wuhan, Hubei
A man is pictured smoking a cigarette by the window of a residential building in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus