Wuhan businessman Li Jing is counting down the days until his city emerges from virus lockdown.
The hundreds of apartments Li’s homestay company oversees can start hosting visitors again on Wednesday — when the mass quarantine of the Chinese metropolis where the coronavirus first took hold is officially lifted. Trains will be able to leave, the airport will resume flights out, and cars blocked from exiting as the pathogen roared through Wuhan can take to the highways again.
Li’s apartment rentals plummeted to zero after the lockdown was imposed Jan. 23, penning in a population the size of Italy’s once it was expanded to the whole of Hubei province. In an effort to entice bookings, Li’s properties will be cleaned and disinfected for three hours between stays, and he plans to expand the room service menu.