Life in Wuhan and other Hubei cities in China are returning to normal since China started lifting lockdown measures that have been in place for the past two months.

People starting to get out

Shopping malls and shops are reopening, with people trickling through the streets.

Life slowly returns to normal in #Wuhan, with stores and shopping malls resuming business after months of lockdown due to #Covid_19 outbreak. pic.twitter.com/8DZARYsNZK

— People's Daily, China (@PDChina) April 1, 2020

Shoppers, however, are keeping their masks on, and staying a safe distance away from one another.

Usual safety measures are in place as well, such as the checking of temperatures before shoppers are allowed into the malls.

Shoppers also have to show that they are in good health with a mobile-phone based health code.

Upon entering the building, they disinfect their hands too.

Local food businesses, schools, and factories have reopened as well.

Apple has also reopened all 42 stores in China on March 13.

Hospitals are also being restored to pre-epidemic days, with disinfecting being carried out throughout the premises.

According to the Chinese government, Wuhan hospitals have resumed regular operations by the end of March.

Makeshift hospitals to deal with the Covid-19 outbreak have closed as well.

Public transport also started running since March 28, with high-speed trains being allowed into the city.

Final lockdown measures to be in place till April 8

But while residents of other parts of Hubei are already free to travel out of their cities, Wuhan remains under lockdown till April 8.

Final measures restricting the movement of Wuhan residents are still in place as well.

Since March 25, healthy residents could venture to the streets to purchase food, but only one person from each family is allowed to leave the home for two hours each day, DW News reported.

China not letting its guard down

China, however, remains on high alert.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a regular presser on Tuesday, March 31, that the country's fight against Covid-19 "isn't over yet".

She said: "We are under heavy pressure to guard against imported cases and a rebound in indigenous cases, and so there is a huge demand for medical supplies."

She added that it is the government's "top priority to prevent and control the epidemic at home and safeguard people's health."

But even so, she said China is still providing medical supplies to "countries in need".

China says its locally transmitted cases are down to zero, and that almost all Covid-19 infections in China are imported cases.

The Chinese mainland on Tuesday reported 36 more #COVID19 cases, 35 of which were imported from abroad. Currently, 1,367 asymptomatic #COVID19 patients are under medical observation.

Latest figures:
- 81,554 total confirmed cases
- 3,312 total deaths
- 76,238 discharged pic.twitter.com/NwjnXiGMrs

— People's Daily, China (@PDChina) April 1, 2020

The U.S. casts doubt on data from China

However, the United States has yet to fully accept the data that China has reported as actual figures that reflect the reality on the ground.

A new report, submitted to the White House by the U.S. intelligence community, says the Chinese government has underreported the extent of the Covid-19 outbreak in the country, Bloomberg reported.

Two officials even said the numbers provided by China are falsified.

Previously, U.S. President Donald Trump has also cast doubt on the numbers of reported cases in China, saying on March 27 that "you don't know what the numbers are in China".

Trump: Difficult days ahead for the U.S.

The U.S. has surpassed 200,000 confirmed Covid-19 infections on Wednesday, April 1.

The country has also reported its highest one-day death toll of 884 people.

The rising number of cases, coupled with the mask shortage in hospitals, prompted Trump to say "difficult days are ahead" for the nation, France24 reported.

He said: "We're going to have a couple of weeks, starting pretty much now, but especially a few days from now, that are going to be horrific."

The U.S. has the highest number of confirmed infections in the world at 213,372.

Top image via People's Daily