China to lift lockdown in most of virus-hit Hubei province

Workers wearing protective gears spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities are lifting a lockdown in most of its virus-hit Hubei province.

People who are cleared will be able to leave the province after midnight Tuesday.

The city of Wuhan, where the outbreak started in late December, will remain locked down until April 8. China barred people from leaving or entering Wuhan starting Jan. 23 and expanded it to most of the province in succeeding days.

The drastic steps came as a new coronavirus began spreading to the rest of China and overseas during the Lunar New Year holiday, when many Chinese travel.

Hubei has seen almost no new infections for more than a week.