Wuhan resumes popular 'square dancing' as coronavirus lockdown eases

As Wuhan’s 76-day lockdown ended on April 8, many parts of China resumed the popular “square dancing”, or mass dances, held usually in the evenings in public squares, plazas or parks, as per a news agency report.  While most large gatherings are still banned and health safety protocols like wearing protective masks and maintaining distance about a meter apart are still mandatory to adhere to.  

As the Wuhan city, Hubei province, once the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak is getting back on its feet slowly, over a hundred masked people danced on an open-air riverside walkway in a central area with loudspeakers playing electronic dance music to Japanese pop, as per reports. Indicative of resumption of the nightlife in China, couple waltzed in pairs, others synced to choreographed dances while still wearing protective masks. Citizens were quoted saying that they could finally gather after months of a clampdown that put millions confined due to stay-at-home orders in order to combat the contagious disease.  

As of May 16, China has a total of 82,947 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus with over 4,633 deaths reported so far. Weeks after the country successfully contained the spread of novel coronavirus, over 8,000 people had to be quarantined in and around the Chinese city of Shulan in the northeastern province of Jilin due to cluster outbreak, state media reported.

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Commercial hubs resumed

As per media reports, some of these regions were among the places that detected new clusters due to domestic transmission as the government eased restrictions further and the lockdown was lifted. Earlier, last week, amid fears of the second wave of infections, Shulan had initiated “wartime measures” to detect new cases, as per media reports. National-level health and inspection teams were also sent to the area for contact tracing. 

On May 17, Sunday, the commercial hub of Shanghai announced the restart of some classes, and airlines announced the resumption of the flights, as per reports. In Shanghai, however, students retained the option of continuing to follow classes online rather than facing coronavirus testing and social distancing measures at schools that posed risks of infection. As in Beijing, other cities, and Shanghai classes were already restarted for the middle and high school students who have been preparing for the exams. Numerous tourist sites have reopened, including Beijing's storied Forbidden City palace complex and Shanghai's Disneyland resort, although with strict social distancing measures still in place, according to local media reports.  

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(Image Credit: AP)