Coronavirus: Wuhan goes from ground zero to party central

A giant beach party has replaced shuttered markets and deserted streets at the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic.

A performer holds court at a beach party in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province. Picture: AFP

Melburnians may be sentenced to many more weeks locked safely in their homes as the coronavirus pandemic rolls across the city – but the original locked-down town, Wuhan, is back in full swing.

Extraordinary images at the weekend show a massive beach party at the Wuhan Maya Beach Water Park, a far cry from the deserted streets of February as COVID-19 hit.

The scene at the giant pool party in Wuhan. Picture: AFP

It was a scene very much removed from the start of the pandemic, which first emerged in Wuhan late last year — infecting 50,000 in the city, according to official figures — before circulating around the world.

Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei province, went into lockdown on January 23, restrictions which were lifted 76 days later. There have been no new locally transmitted cases reported in Hubei in the past three months.

For months, the city of 11m people was entirely cut off from the rest of China and all public gatherings cancelled.

Now, Melbourne finds itself in total lockdown as Victoria tackles a second wave of coronavirus infections.

The tide, of course, is turning.

A man wearing a face mask talks to another man through a makeshift barricade wall built to control entry and exit to a residential compound in Wuhan in March. Picture: Getty Images

But not before Melburnians spend weeks indoors, the streets eerily silent. The scenes from Wuhan, however, may provoke not only jealousy — but also anxiety, according to Australia’s Deputy Chief Health Officer Michael Kidd.

“Compared to eight months ago, we see these images, we all have a visceral reaction,” Professor Kidd said on Tuesday.

“Seeing large numbers of people coming together, large people crowded on a single space and people not sticking to physical distancing. It is quite alarming.”

“I’m not sure what the figures are for Wuhan at the moment for community transmission … but I think it’s alarming anytime we see large groups of people coming together in such a manner.”