Masks off, mortarboards on: Wuhan sheds COVID-19 for mass graduation
15 June, 2021
A huge red banner welcomed a lot more than 11,000 students in Wuhan for a massive graduation ceremony more than a year after metropolis was battered by the first global outbreak of COVID-19.
Students in navy gowns and mortarboards sat in crowded rows, without social distancing or face masks, under the sign that read: "Welcoming the graduates of 2020 back home. We wish you all an excellent future."
COVID-19 first emerged in late 2019 in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province, sending the city of 11 million into among the world's strictest lockdowns.
Restrictions weren't eased until April when the city began to re-open after 76 days closed off, although schools remained shut for longer.
The town held limited graduation ceremonies last year, with Wuhan University hosting a mostly-online event in June last year, with the students and teachers who did attend all in masks.
More than 2,200 students at Sunday's (Jun 13) ceremony were graduates who cannot attend their graduation this past year because of tight virus restrictions.
This image taken on Jun 13, 2021 shows nearly 9,000 graduates, including a lot more than 2,000 students who cannot attend the graduation ceremony last year because of the COVID-19 outbreak, attending a graduation ceremony at Central China Normal University in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei province. (Photo: AFP)
This aerial picture taken on Jun 13, 2021 shows a graduation ceremony at Central China Normal University in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei province.
China has since largely contained the outbreak while keeping precautions high, including tight border controls, quarantines, mandatory online "health codes" and varying restrictions on domestic travel.
There were 20 new cases on Tuesday, including 18 imported from overseas and two in an area outbreak in southern Guangdong province.
There were 4,636 deaths officially reported, almost all in Wuhan.
Quoting a line of ancient Chinese poetry, the banner offered students advice for future years: "The ocean is boundless for leaping fish."
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