Wuhan returns to normal as world still battling pandemic
Wuhan: A year ago, a notice sent to smartphones in Wuhan at 2 a.m. announced the world's first coronavirus lockdown that would last 76 days.
Early Saturday morning, residents in the central Chinese city where the virus was first detected were jogging and practicing tai chi in a fog-shrouded park beside the mighty Yangtze River.
Life has largely returned to normal in the city of 11 million, even as the rest of the world grapples with the spread of the virus' more contagious variants.
Efforts to vaccinate people for COVID-19 have been frustrated by disarray and limited supplies in some places. The scourge has killed over 2 million people worldwide.
Traffic was light in Wuhan but there was no sign of the barriers that a year ago isolated neighborhoods, prevented movement around the city and confined people to their housing compounds and even apartments.
Wuhan accounted for the bulk of China's 4,635 deaths from COVID-19, a number that has largely stayed static for months. The city has been largely free of further outbreaks since the lockdown was lifted on April 8, but questions persist as to where the virus originated and whether Wuhan and Chinese authorities acted fast enough and with sufficient transparency to allow the world to prepare for a pandemic that has sickened more than 98 million.
China on Saturday announced another 107 cases, bringing its total to 88,911. Of those, the northern province of Heilongjiang accounted for the largest number at 56.
Beijing and the eastern financial hub of Shanghai both reported three new cases amid mass testing and lockdowns of hospitals and housing units linked to recent outbreaks.
Authorities are wary of a new surge surrounding next month's Lunar New Year holiday and are telling people not to travel and to avoid gatherings as much as possible. Schools are being let out a week early and many have already shifted to online classes.
Mask wearing remains virtually universal indoors and on public transport. Mobile phone apps are used to trace people's movements and prove they are both virus-free and have not been to areas where suspected cases have been found.
Wuhan has been praised for its sacrifice in the service of the nation, turning it into a sort of Stalingrad in China's war against the virus, commemorated in books, documentaries, TV shows and florid panegyrics from officials including head of state and leader of the Communist Party Xi Jinping.
China has doggedly defended its actions in the early days of the outbreak, saying it helped buy time for the rest of the world while pushing fringe theories that the virus was brought to the city from outside China, possibly from a laboratory in the US.
After months of negotiations, China finally gave permission last week for the World Health Organization to send a team of international experts to begin investigating the virus' origins. They are currently undergoing two weeks of quarantine.
A panel of experts commissioned by the WHO criticized China and other countries this week for not moving to stem the initial outbreak earlier, prompting Beijing to concede it could have done better.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong in southern China, thousands of residents were locked down Saturday in an unprecedented move to contain a worsening outbreak in the city.
Hong Kong has been grappling to contain a fresh wave of the coronavirus since November. Over 4,300 cases have been recorded in the last two months, making up nearly 40% of the city's total.
Authorities said in a statement that an area comprising 16 buildings in the working-class Yau Tsim Mong district will be locked down until all residents have been tested. (AP)
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Her willingness, consent all that matters: HC on Punjab woman's plea for abortion
Chandigarh (PTI): It is the willingness and consent of a married woman that is all that matters, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has observed, while allowing a petitioner to undergo abortion without her husband's consent.
The direction came on a plea moved by the 21-year-old petitioner from Punjab, seeking permission to terminate her pregnancy in its second trimester.
The petitioner had submitted that she got married on May 2, 2025 and had a turbulent relationship with her husband.
In the previous hearing, the court had issued directions to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) to constitute a medical board to examine the petitioner.
According to the medical report, the woman was medically fit to undergo MTP (medical termination of pregnancy).
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According to the December 23 report, there is a single live intra-uterine foetus with a gestational age of 16 weeks and a day, with no congenital malformation.
"Patient has symptoms of depression and anxiety for the last six months, (and) has been undergoing treatment with minimal improvement. She is severely distressed about her pregnancy amidst divorce proceedings. It is recommended that she continues to undergo her psychiatric treatment and counselling. She is psychologically fit to consent," the report of the medical board said.
A bench of justice Suvir Sehgal said it is evident from the report that according to experts, the petitioner is in a fit medical condition for the termination of her pregnancy.
The sole question that requires to be considered is whether her estranged husband's consent is required before such termination, the court observed.
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, does not provide for an express or implied consent of the husband, it pointed out.
"A married lady is the best judge to evaluate as to whether she intends to continue with pregnancy or get it aborted. Her willingness and consent is all that matters," the court noted.
It said according to the medical report, the gestation period of a foetus is less than 20 weeks and falls within the maximum period prescribed under the Act.
"This court, therefore, does not find any obstacle in permitting the petitioner to undergo abortion. In view of the above, it is directed that petitioner is eligible to get the pregnancy terminated from respondent No.2 -- PGIMER -- or any other authorised hospital," the order passed on December 24 said.
"Let the petitioner, within the next one week, get the medical termination of pregnancy from PGIMER, Chandigarh, or any other authorised hospital, which must take due care and precaution while conducting the procedure," the court added while disposing of the plea.
