Wuhan residents told to stay inside and stay vigilant as China begins to lift virus lockdown

The top official in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic in China, warned residents to stay vigilant and avoid going out, even as the latest data showed a decline in new cases in the mainland and zero new infections in the city. The country where the virus emerged late last year will hold three minutes of silence nationwide on Saturday to mourn the thousands of "martyrs" who died in the fight against the epidemic, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Air raid sirens and horns of automobiles, trains and ships will "wail in grief" after the minutes of silence are observed at 10 am (0200 GMT) across the country, Xinhua said. China appears to have curbed the epidemic through draconian restrictions that paralysed the country for two months and effectively shut down the world's second-biggest economy.