Wuhan residents in the subway, yesterday. Previous Next

Residents of Wuhan in Hubei province of China, scrambled to leave the epicenter of a deadly SARS-like coronavirus outbreak before a virtual lockdown was imposed on the city today, RTHK reports.

Authorities halted flights and trains out of Wuhan from 10:00 am local time. But on the social media, people who said they are from Wuhan posted messages saying they left the city before the lockdown was implemented.

“Escape from Wuhan” has become a popular hashtag on Weibo, a microblogging website on the mainland.

“I escaped in the small hours. There were so many cars on the highway,” one netizen claimed she had driven to Shanghai.

Another netizen said he had left with a friend. He said both of them were having fever.

“We’ve escaped the epidemic zone after taking some fever reducers. I’ll visit the doctor in Shanghai if my fever doesn’t go away a week later,” she wrote.

She also wrote that they plan to visit the Disneyland before that.

A mother said she had flown with her children to Hainan province.

“The outbreak is too serious. We dare not go out in Wuhan at all. We’re now in Sanya for shelter,” she wrote.