COVID-19 lockdown in China


On 23 January 2020, the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council of China imposed a lockdown in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei in an effort to quarantine the center of an outbreak of COVID-19; this action was commonly referred to as the Wuhan lockdown. The World Health Organization, although stating that it was beyond its own guidelines, commended the move, calling it "unprecedented in public health history". CCP general secretary Xi Jinping said he personally authorized the unprecedented lockdown of Wuhan and other cities beginning on 23 January.
The lockdown in Wuhan set the precedent for similar measures in other Chinese cities. Within hours of the Wuhan lockdown, travel restrictions were also imposed on the nearby cities of Huanggang and Ezhou, and were eventually imposed on all 15 other cities in Hubei, affecting a total of about 57 million people. On 2 February 2020, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, implemented a seven-day lockdown in which only one person per household was allowed to exit once each two days, and most of the highway exits were closed. On 13 March 2020, Huangshi and Qianjiang became the first Hubei cities to remove strict travel restrictions within part or all of their administrative confines. On 8 April 2020, the Wuhan lockdown officially ended. The lockdown, combined with other public health measures in early 2020, succeeded in suppressing virus transmission and averted a more widespread outbreak in China.
Subsequent lockdowns were introduced in other regions of China in response to localised outbreaks during the two years following. The largest of these was Shanghai in early 2022.
Some Western observers, such as Amnesty International, were initially skeptical of the lockdown; however, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread to other countries and territories, similar measures were enacted around the globe.
A series of protests in mainland China against COVID-19 lockdowns began in November 2022.
On 7 December 2022, China's National Health Commission in a 10-point announcement stipulated that negative COVID-19 tests would no longer be required, apart from vulnerable areas such as nurseries, elderly care facilities and schools.

Background

Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province in China. With a population of over 11 million, it is the largest city in Hubei, the most populous city in Central China, the seventh-most populous Chinese city, and one of the nine National Central Cities of China. Wuhan lies in the eastern Jianghan Plain, on the confluence of the Yangtze River and its largest tributary, the Han River. It is a major transportation hub, with dozens of railways, roads and expressways passing through the city and connecting to other major cities. Because of its key role in domestic transport, Wuhan is known as the "Nine Provinces' Thoroughfare" and sometimes referred to as "the Chicago of China".

2020 lockdowns

Hubei

In mid-December 2019, the Chinese Government acknowledged an emerging cluster of people, many linked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, were infected with pneumonia with no clear causes. Chinese scientists subsequently linked the pneumonia to a new strain of coronavirus that was given the initial designation 2019 novel coronavirus. Some of the first symptoms appeared on 10 December, and 24 cases were later discovered to have connection to the seafood market.
Within three weeks of the first known cases, the government built sixteen large mobile hospitals in Wuhan and sent 40,000 medical staff to the city.
On 10 January 2020, the first death and 41 clinically confirmed infections caused by the coronavirus were reported.
By 22 January, the novel coronavirus had spread to major cities and provinces in China, with 571 confirmed cases and 17 deaths reported. Confirmed cases were also reported in other regions and countries, including Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, and the United States.
According to Li Lanjuan, a professor at Zhejiang University's school of medicine and member of the high-level expert team convened by the National Health Commission, she had urged a lockdown on Wuhan on several occasions between 19 January and 22 January 2020 as a last resort to contain the epidemic.
At 2am on 23 January, authorities issued a notice informing residents of Wuhan that from 10am, all public transport, including buses, railways, flights, and ferry services would be suspended. The Wuhan Airport, the Wuhan railway station, and the Wuhan Metro were all closed. The residents of Wuhan were also not allowed to leave the city without permission from the authorities. The notice caused an exodus from Wuhan. An estimated 300,000 people were reported to have left Wuhan by train alone before the 10 am lockdown. By the afternoon of 23 January, the authorities began shutting down some of the major highways leaving Wuhan. The lockdown came two days before the Chinese New Year, the most important festival in the country, and traditionally the peak traveling season, when millions of Chinese travel across the country.
Following the lockdown of Wuhan, public transportation systems in two of Wuhan's neighboring prefecture-level cities, Huanggang and Ezhou, were also placed on lockdown. A total of 12 other county to prefecture-level cities in Hubei, including Huangshi, Jingzhou, Yichang, Xiaogan, Jingmen, Suizhou, Xianning, Qianjiang, Xiantao, Shiyan, Tianmen, and Enshi, were placed on traveling restrictions by the end of 24 January, bringing the number of people affected by the restriction to more than 50 million.

Lockdown timeline

  • 23 January: transport in Wuhan, Huanggang and Ezhou severely restricted, including closure of public transit, trains, airports, and major highways
  • 24 January: travel restrictions enacted in 12 additional prefecture-level cities in Hubei
  • 13 February: the Chinese government has issued extension of order to shut down all non-essential companies, including manufacturing plants, in Hubei Province until at least 24:00 on 20 February.
  • 20 February: the Chinese government has issued extension of order to shut down all non-essential companies, including manufacturing plants, and all schools in Hubei Province until at least 24:00 on 10 March.
  • 13 March: Huangshi removes controls and permits on road traffic within its urban area; Qianjiang does the same for its entire administrative area.
  • 14 March: Hubei Sanitation and Health Committee Vice-chairperson Liu Dongru announces that only Wuhan remains a "high-risk area", and that the entirety of the rest of the province is considered medium- or "low-risk areas". Any low-risk township-level divisions, in addition to those medium- and high-risk divisions with no confirmed active cases, could lift their blockades and other mobility controls. Per China News Service reporting, by 14 March, besides the aforementioned Huangshi and Qianjiang, Yichang, Huanggang, Suizhou, Xiantao, Jingzhou, Jingmen, Shiyan, Xiangyang, Tianmen, and Shennongjia had announced "measures to lessen controls" and for industries to incrementally resume work and production.
  • 17 March: Jingzhou removes its permit requirements for transport, resuming normal transport operations, and also removes entry/exit controls on xiaoqu.
  • 18 March: The Hubei taskforce to control COVID-19 announces that, with the exception of exit/entry into Wuhan and the province as a whole, all anti-COVID-19 traffic checkpoints within the province are to be removed.
  • 22 March: Wuhan loosens its two-month lockdown.
  • 25 March: Hubei lifts the lockdown outside of Wuhan, although people will still need to confirm their "Green Code" health classification, designated by Alipay's monitoring system, to travel.
  • 8 April: Wuhan lifts its lockdown, resumes all transportation, with residents intending to leave the city facing similar "Green Code" requirements as those in the rest of the province.

    Elsewhere in China

Lockdowns by outdoor restrictions

On 1 February in Huanggang, Hubei implemented a measure whereby only one person from each household is permitted to go outside for provisions once every two days, except for medical reasons or to work at shops or pharmacies. Many cities, districts, and counties across mainland China implemented similar measures in the days following, including Wenzhou, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, Harbin, and the whole of Jiangxi.

Closed management of communities

Many areas across China have implemented what is called "closed management" on a community-basis. In most of the areas where this came into effect, villages, communities, and units in most areas would only keep one entrance and exit point open, and each household is allowed limited numbers of entrances and exits. In some places, night-time access is prohibited, effectively a curfew, and in extreme cases, access is prohibited throughout the day. People entering and leaving are required to wear masks and receive temperature tests. In some areas, vouchers are issued to the public, with vouchers and valid credentials. There are also areas where people are allowed to declare on WeChat mini-programs or public accounts and some apps at the same time. Courier and food delivery personnel are usually prohibited from entering. Control in communities with confirmed cases is more stringent.
List by the time of official announcement:
Start dateEnd
Date		PlaceProvinceCity levelSources and Notes
2020-01-312020-03-25WanzhouChongqingcounty
2020-01-312020-03-25LiangpingChongqingcounty
2020-01-31April 2020Wuzhong CityNingxiaprefecture
2020-01-31Yinchuan CityNingxiaprefecture
2020-02-022020-02-19Wenzhou CityZhejiangprefecture
2020-02-032020-04-10Huai'an CityJiangsuprefecture
2020-02-03Jiangyin CityJiangsucounty
2020-02-04Hangzhou CityZhejiangSub-provincial
2020-02-04Ningbo CityZhejiangprefecture
2020-02-04Zhengzhou CityHenanSub-provincial
2020-02-04Zhumadian CityHenanprefecture
2020-02-04Linyi CityShandongprefecture
2020-02-04Harbin CityHeilongjiangSub-provincial
2020-02-04Nanjing CityJiangsuSub-provincial
2020-02-04Xuzhou CityJiangsuprefectureuntil 24:00 on 8 February
2020-02-04Changzhou CityJiangsuprefecture
2020-02-04Nantong CityJiangsuprefecture
2020-02-04Zhenjiang CityJiangsuprefecture
2020-02-04Jiangyan DistrictJiangsucounty
2020-02-04Fuzhou CityFujianSub-provincial
2020-02-04Jingdezhen CityJiangxiprefecture
2020-02-05Haikou CityHainanprefecture
2020-02-05Sanya CityHainanprefecture
2020-02-05Kunming CityYunnanSub-provincial
2020-02-05Qingdao CityShandongprefecture
2020-02-05Jinan CityShandongSub-provincial
2020-02-05Tai'an CityShandongprefecture
2020-02-05Rizhao CityShandongprefecture
2020-02-05Nanchang CityJiangxiSub-provincial
2020-02-052020-03-18Hefei CityAnhuiSub-provincial
2020-02-05Nanning CityGuangxiSub-provincial
2020-02-05Shijiazhuang CityHebeiSub-provincial
2020-02-05Yangzhou CityJiangsuprefecture
2020-02-05Taizhou CityJiangsuprefecture
2020-02-05Suqian CityJiangsuprefecture
2020-02-05Buning CountyJiangsuCounty
2020-02-06Liaoning
2020-02-06Jiangxi
2020-02-06Jilin CityJilin
2020-02-062020-03-18Ma'anshan CityAnhuiprefecture
2020-02-06Zhuhai CityGuangdongprefecture
2020-02-06Ya'an CitySichuanprefecture
2020-02-06Neijiang CitySichuanprefecture
2020-02-06Suzhou CityJiangsuprefecture
2020-02-07HubeiCommunity closed management further added on 10 February
2020-02-072020-03-18Anhui
2020-02-07Tianjin
2020-02-07Guangzhou CityGuangdongSub-provincial
2020-02-07Shenzhen CityGuangdongprefecture
2020-02-07Lanzhou CityGansuSub-provincial
2020-02-07Chengdu CitySichuanSub-provincial
2020-02-07Suining CitySichuanprefecture
2020-02-07Guangyuan CitySichuanprefecture
2020-02-07Guiyang CityGuizhouSub-provincial
2020-02-07Zunyi CityGuizhouprefecture
2020-02-07Tangshan CityHebeiprefecture
2020-02-07Lianyungang CityJiangsuprefecture
2020-02-07Jiangjin DistrictChongqingcounty
2020-02-08　Chongqing
2020-02-08Ziyang CitySichuanprefecture
2020-02-08Foshan CityGuangdongprefecture
2020-02-09Deyang CitySichuanprefecture
2020-02-09Mianyang CitySichuanprefecture
2020-02-09Huizhou CityGuangdongprefecture
2020-02-09Dongguan CityGuangdongprefecture
2020-02-09Hanzhong CityShaanxiprefecture
2020-02-09Wuxi CityJiangsuprefecture
2020-02-10Beijing
2020-02-10Shanghai
2020-02-12　Neimenggu
2020-03-31Jia CountyHenanCounty
2020-04-08　Suifenhe CityHeilongjiangprefecture
14 March 2022　Shenzhen CityGuangdongprefecture