Volunteer disinfectant sprayers help Wuhan prepare for a return to work

Volunteers from the Blue Sky Rescue team disinfect at the Qintai Grand Theatre in Wuhan, Hubei province, the epicentre of China's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, April 2, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song

WUHAN, China (Reuters) - Volunteers in hazmat suits have been spraying Wuhan with disinfectant to help the Chinese city where the coronavirus first took hold get back to work as the number of new cases in China drops.

Wuhan, where 11 million people live, had been paralysed by containment efforts imposed by authorities, who shut down public transport as well as taxi services as part of a lockdown, leaving it mostly to ordinary citizens to keep the city running.