Over 800 people stranded in Hubei return to Beijing

People returning from Hubei arrive at the Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2020. The first batch of over 800 people stranded in virus-hit Hubei Province has arrived in Beijing Wednesday afternoon after Hubei lifted outbound travel restrictions in all areas except the capital city Wuhan starting from Wednesday. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The first batch of over 800 people stranded in virus-hit Hubei Province has arrived in Beijing Wednesday afternoon after Hubei lifted outbound travel restrictions in all areas except the capital city Wuhan starting from Wednesday.

The transport of the people was carried out in a well-organized and spot-to-spot way, said Chen Bei, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing municipal government, at a press conference Wednesday.

There are still more than 20,000 teachers and students from Beijing schools and universities stranded in Hubei, according to Chen.

Chen said those who have a fixed residence in Beijing can apply to return to their homes while those who do not still need to wait for further arrangements after the announcement of school and university reopening.