Wuhan reverses decision to release non-locals

The capital of Hubei province has been under lockdown for a month now. Photo: AFP

Timmy Sung reports

Authorities in Wuhan on Monday reversed a decision that would have allowed some people to leave the quarantined city at the centre of China's deadly virus epidemic.



The city government said in a statement that the previous announcement had been made by a traffic prevention and control group "without the consent" of the local leadership, and was now "declared invalid".



This came just hours after authorities there said "non-locals" can leave Wuhan if they are showing no signs of the illness and have never come into contact with infected patients.



Around 2,700 people from Hong Kong have been stuck in Hubei province since January 23 when the authorities enforced a lockdown to contain the outbreak.



Many of them have contacted the Hong Kong government asking for help to leave the province, where most of the country's coronavirus deaths have taken place.



The announcement on Monday morning had kindled hopes that some of them could be evacuated, although the Carrie Lam administration has not announced any plan for such a move.



The Wuhan city government said in a statement that the previous announcement had been made by a traffic prevention and control group "without the consent" of the local leadership.



"The announcement is declared invalid. In this regard, we have seriously dealt with the relevant personnel," officials said in a Weibo post.



"Wuhan resolutely implements the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on 'preventing leaks [of the virus]' ... strictly manages the passages leaving from Wuhan, strictly controls personnel, and strictly prevents the epidemic from going out," it said.



Wuhan's government deleted the previous post that had announced the easing of restrictions barely three hours earlier.



Officials in Wuhan were already under fire for their handling of the epidemic -- accused of initially covering up the first outbreaks, botching the response and causing confusion by changing criteria to count the number of cases.



The top Communist Party officials in Hubei province and its capital Wuhan were sacked earlier this month, along with the region's top health officials. (Additional reporting by AFP)