Six months on, Wuhan hopes the worst is over

For a city of 11 million people, on the global stage life in the Chinese city of Wuhan went by relatively unnoticed.

All that changed exactly six months ago.

It was on December 31 that China first reported cases of 'viral pneumonia' in Wuhan to the World Health Organization.

There is now the common sight of people wearing masks, and the temperature checks when you arrive at work, but in the city where the pandemic began, life is slowly returning back to something like normal.

"As time goes on, it's recovering slowly and it's basically gone for now," this woman says. "We have nothing to worry about when we come outside now. We will take off masks when we go to some places with low risk. Though we are told there is no need to wear masks in Wuhan, people still wear masks. People are getting used to it which is good. I still feel sad when talking about it."

Lockdown was lifted here on April 8, after 76 days indoors.

Wuhan conducted a city-wide nucleic acid testing for all of its residents over a period of 10 days amid fears of a resurge.

But the situation has since stabilized.

China reported 19 new infections on Monday (June 29), up from 12 a day earlier.

Like many countries, a huge improvement from a few months ago.

But like elsewhere, the threat the virus poses remains - and any rise in cases brings with it concerns about a second wave.