コロナ初確認の武漢の年越し、大群衆が歓声　中国

【武漢ＡＦＰ＝時事】2019年12月に新型コロナウイルスが世界で初めて検出された中国・湖北省武漢で12月31日夜、大勢が中心部に集まり、光のショーが繰り広げられるなか歓声を上げたり、空に風船を放ったりして年を越した。（写真は中国・湖北省武漢で大みそかの夜、マスクを着けてカウントダウンイベントに参加する人々）
　時計塔のあるかつて税関だった建物の周辺には、密集を防ぐために警察がフェンスを設置していたが、若者を中心とする群衆が大挙して押し寄せたため、あまり効果を発揮できなかった。群衆の大半はマスクを着用していた。
　武漢では昨年１月末から２か月以上にわたって厳しいロックダウン（都市封鎖）が実施されたが、夏以降はほぼ通常の生活に戻った。９月には学校も完全に再開した。
　群衆の一人は、「中国は今やこの流行病をとてもよく抑え込んでいる」と語った。「しかし、まだこのウイルスに苦しんでいる国もある。他の国もなるべく早くこの困難を乗り越えてほしい」
　中国は当初、武漢での新型ウイルス流行を隠蔽（いんぺい）し、世界的な感染拡大を引き起こしたとして各所から批判されている。中国政府は最近、新型コロナウイルス感染症（ＣＯＶＩＤ-１９）の武漢起源説に疑問を呈する動きを見せている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/01/04-12:15）

Thousands of New Year revellers packed into the centre of Wuhan, the Chinese city where Covid-19 was first detected, cheering and releasing balloons to welcome in 2021.
Police erected fences to try to prevent congestion around the city's Customs House clock tower, but the measure was ineffective due to the large turnout of mainly young people.
2020 has been a very difficult year for us because we have experienced the epidemic, especially in Wuhan, which is an unforgettable experience for us, local resident Xu Du told AFP.
Most of the crowd wore masks for the celebrations on Thursday evening, which included a light show.
Wuhan was put under a strict lockdown for more than two months from late January, but has returned to normal life since the summer. Schools fully reopened in September.
China has controlled the epidemic very well now, said reveller Li Yusu. But there are still some other countries suffering from the virus. I hope other countries can get through this difficulty as soon as possible.
China has faced widespread criticism over its initial handling of the virus, which emerged in Wuhan, in the central province of Hubei, in December 2019.
The country has been accused of covering up the outbreak and allowing the virus to spread internationally.
Beijing has also recently attempted to cast doubts on whether Covid-19 originated in Wuhan.
On Monday, citizen journalist Zhang Zhan was jailed for four years for reporting on conditions inside Wuhan during the height of the outbreak.
The city of 11 million people was forced into a tough lockdown from January until April and about 4,000 people died, according to Chinese figures.