The lockdown imposed in Wuhan – where the highly-contagious coronavirus originated – will be lifted next month, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. The decision to relax restrictions came after no new cases of coronavirus were reported from Hubei last week, a drastic fall from the height of the outbreak that infected more than 81,000 people in China and killed 3,160.

Officials in China’s Hubei province have said they will allow transportation to resume for Wuhan on April 8, lifting the mass quarantine imposed over the city. People in Wuhan will be allowed to leave the city and Hubei province.

Hubei province, which has a population of over 56 million, had been kept under strict lockdown since January 23, with a complete ban on all movement.

While the virus seems to be slowing down in China, it has now spread to 168 countries and has left governments struggling to stop the alarming spread of the infection. Coronavirus has killed more than 16,000 people across the world and infected over 3,80,000 people, according to the Johns Hopkins university in the United States.

Italy, the country worst hit by coronavirus, has reported more deaths than China. The virus has killed more than 6,000 people in Italy and infected more than 63,000 people. The country is under complete lockdown. Iran, the epicentre of the pandemic in West Asia has, reported more than 1,800 deaths and 23,400 cases. The United States has reported 46,450 cases and more than 500 deaths. Spain and France have reported 2,311 and 860 deaths, respectively.

India has also intensified its efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus, and announced a complete shutdown in 30 states and Union Territories, covering 548 districts. The health ministry has confirmed 492 cases in the country so far. Ten people have died due to coronavirus in India.