# Canonical recap data for Wuhan Lockdown Initiates COVID Response (2020)
# Source: https://recap.at/2020/wuhan-lockdown-covid
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: wuhan-lockdown-covid
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/2020/wuhan-lockdown-covid"
title: Wuhan Lockdown Initiates COVID Response
aliases:
- Wuhan lockdown
- Hubei lockdown
- January 2020 quarantine
subtitle: Wuhan Lockdown Initiates COVID Response
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 2020-01-23
endDate: 2020-04-08
datePrecision: day
year: 2020
decade: 2020
country:
name: China
slug: china
summaryShort: On 23 January 2020, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 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 (WHO), although stating t
summaryLong: On 23 January 2020, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 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 (WHO), 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.
lede: On January 23, 2020, Chinese authorities sealed off Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, in response to a rapidly spreading respiratory virus later identified as COVID-19. It was the largest quarantine in modern history and marked the opening move of a pandemic that would reshape global health, economics, and politics for years to come.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Policemen_wearing_masks_patrolling_Wuhan_Tianhe_Airport_during_Wuhan_coronavirus_outbreak.jpg/1280px-Policemen_wearing_masks_patrolling_Wuhan_Tianhe_Airport_during_Wuhan_coronavirus_outbreak.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "COVID-19 lockdown in China"
importance: 50
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Population affected
  value: 11 million people in Wuhan
- label: Lockdown date initiated
  value: January 23, 2020
- label: Geographic scope
  value: Wuhan and surrounding Hubei Province cities
- label: Duration of strictest measures
  value: Approximately 76 days (lifted April 8, 2020)
- label: Confirmed cases in Wuhan at lockdown
  value: Over 500 reported (actual numbers disputed)
- label: Transport restrictions
  value: Public transit suspended; outbound flights and trains halted
timeline:
- date: 2019-12-31
  title: First cases reported
  description: WHO alerted to cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan; initial cluster linked to Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market.
- date: 2020-01-20
  title: Human-to-human transmission confirmed
  description: Chinese health official Zhong Nanshan confirmed person-to-person transmission; cases appear in Beijing and Shenzhen.
- date: 2020-01-23
  title: Wuhan lockdown begins
  description: Chinese State Council announces lockdown of Wuhan and surrounding Hubei cities; public transport suspended, outbound travel banned.
- date: 2020-01-24
  title: Expanded restrictions
  description: Multiple Hubei cities placed under lockdown; Chinese New Year travel season underway, affecting population movements.
- date: 2020-01-30
  title: WHO declares global emergency
  description: World Health Organization declares COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern; cases confirmed in multiple countries.
- date: 2020-03-11
  title: WHO declares pandemic
  description: WHO officially characterizes COVID-19 as a pandemic; global case count exceeds 118,000.
- date: 2020-04-08
  title: Wuhan lockdown lifted
  description: After 76 days, outbound travel restrictions from Wuhan removed; some internal restrictions remained in place.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_lockdown_in_China"
  title: Wuhan lockdown
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The Wuhan lockdown demonstrated both the potential and limits of rapid, large-scale containment. It bought time for the world to prepare-a gift largely squandered-while establishing a template for government response that ranged from effective to catastrophic depending on where you looked. The decision to lock down 11 million people became either a cautionary tale or a vindication depending on which epidemiologist you asked.
categories:
- disaster
taxonomy:
domain: environmental
eventTypes:
- pandemic
canonicalClasses:
- collapse
- mobilization
- transformation
impactRadius: global
velocity: cascading
predictability: black_swan
intentionality: natural
domainCoupling: systemic
lifecycleClass: birth
metaDescription: On Jan 23, 2020, China locked down Wuhan to contain COVID-19. The largest quarantine in modern history.
wikidataQid: Q83554667
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20210223103953/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_lockdown_in_China"
  capturedAt: 2021-02-23
  label: Wuhan lockdown
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_lockdown_in_China"
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Policemen_wearing_masks_patrolling_Wuhan_Tianhe_Airport_during_Wuhan_coronavirus_outbreak.jpg/1280px-Policemen_wearing_masks_patrolling_Wuhan_Tianhe_Airport_during_Wuhan_coronavirus_outbreak.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Policemen_wearing_masks_patrolling_Wuhan_Tianhe_Airport_during_Wuhan_coronavirus_outbreak.jpg/800px-Policemen_wearing_masks_patrolling_Wuhan_Tianhe_Airport_during_Wuhan_coronavirus_outbreak.jpg"
  caption: COVID-19 lockdown in China
  credit: Wikipedia · "COVID-19 lockdown in China"
  width: 330
  height: 206
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/A_Failure_to_Communicate%3F_How_Public_Messaging_Has_Strained_the_COVID-19_Response_in_the_United_States.pdf/page1-960px-A_Failure_to_Communicate%3F_How_Public_Messaging_Has_Strained_the_COVID-19_Response_in_the_United_States.pdf.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/A_Failure_to_Communicate%3F_How_Public_Messaging_Has_Strained_the_COVID-19_Response_in_the_United_States.pdf/page1-960px-A_Failure_to_Communicate%3F_How_Public_Messaging_Has_Strained_the_COVID-19_Response_in_the_United_States.pdf.jpg"
  caption: A Failure to Communicate? How Public Messaging Has Strained the COVID-19 Response in the United States
  credit: Molly A. Sauer, Shaun Truelove, Amelia K. Gerste, and Rupali J. Limaye
  width: 1275
  height: 1650
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Targeting_the_glycan_of_receptor_binding_domain_with_jacalin_as_a_novel_approach_to_develop_a_treatment_against_COVID-19.pdf/page1-960px-Targeting_the_glycan_of_receptor_binding_domain_with_jacalin_as_a_novel_approach_to_develop_a_treatment_against_COVID-19.pdf.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Targeting_the_glycan_of_receptor_binding_domain_with_jacalin_as_a_novel_approach_to_develop_a_treatment_against_COVID-19.pdf/page1-960px-Targeting_the_glycan_of_receptor_binding_domain_with_jacalin_as_a_novel_approach_to_develop_a_treatment_against_COVID-19.pdf.jpg"
  caption: Targeting the glycan of receptor binding domain with jacalin as a novel approach to develop a treatment against COVID-19
  credit: Rajendaran, Senthilnathan; Jothi, Arunchalam; Anbazhagan, Veerappan
  width: 1085
  height: 1575
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/An_assessment_of_transmission_dynamics_via_time-varying_reproduction_number_of_the_second_wave_of_the_COVID-19_epidemic_in_Fiji.pdf/page1-960px-An_assessment_of_transmission_dynamics_via_time-varying_reproduction_number_of_the_second_wave_of_the_COVID-19_epidemic_in_Fiji.pdf.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/An_assessment_of_transmission_dynamics_via_time-varying_reproduction_number_of_the_second_wave_of_the_COVID-19_epidemic_in_Fiji.pdf/page1-960px-An_assessment_of_transmission_dynamics_via_time-varying_reproduction_number_of_the_second_wave_of_the_COVID-19_epidemic_in_Fiji.pdf.jpg"
  caption: An assessment of transmission dynamics via time-varying reproduction number of the second wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in Fiji
  credit: Lal, Rajnesh; Huang, Weidong; Li, Zhenquan; Prasad, Swastika
  width: 1085
  height: 1575
