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One Year on, Wuhan Residents Share Lockdown Memories, Hopes for 2021

Reuters

   WUHAN, CHINA - In China's Wuhan, the original epicenter of the COVID-19
   outbreak, the city's residents are returning to normal life, even as
   they continue to grapple with memories of the early outbreak, which
   struck fear in the city.

   It's been almost seven months since the city recorded a locally
   transmitted case of the disease due to a strict city-wide lockdown and
   a mass testing event of almost all the city's 11 million residents.

   Today, restaurants, shopping streets and bars are crowded, but locals
   are still experiencing the lasting impact of the lockdown on mental
   health and work.

   Reuters asked people throughout Wuhan to share images and videos they
   took during their outbreak, as well as their hopes for 2021, as the
   city approaches the one-year anniversary of the outbreak. City health
   officials released the first public notice of the then-unknown virus on
   Dec. 31, 2019.

   Like the city itself, most people are enduringly optimistic, even as
   they reflect on the city's toughest year in recent memory.

   An Junming, Wuhan volunteer

   An worked as a volunteer during the city's strict 76-day lockdown,
   delivering food to people trapped in their homes.

   "At that time, I could only eat one meal a day, because there was
   indeed a lot of work to do, but there were very few people doing this,
   so I was very anxious.

   "I hope that the entire city will prosper in 2021.

   "It can be said that in 2020 there were no people on the streets of the
   whole Wuhan - only animals were active outside."

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