Some vital industries in Wuhan, the Chinese city at the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic, were told they can resume work on Wednesday, a day after President Xi Jinping visited there for the first time since the outbreak began.The city of 11 million has been in lockdown since late January but Xi's visit signaled the tide was turning in the government's favor as it fights to contain a virus that as of Tuesday had infected 80,778 people in China and killed 3,158.
The lifting of some restrictions in Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December, comes as the vast majority of new cases are now being reported outside China. Other countries have begun imposing "social distancing" measures such as those that the Beijing authorities credit with slowing the spread in China.
