Coronavirus crisis: Wuhan, China's punk capital loses its voice

Wuhan's 11-week coronavirus lockdown was finally fully lifted in April as new infections abated, reawakening the city, but live shows remain banned.

The birthplace of the novel coronavirus - Wuhan - is also regarded as China's punk capital. But, musicians in the city are struggling. Unable to perform, they gather in private for loose rehearsals, waiting to take the stage again.

A show by Beijing-based rockers Queen Sea Big Shark, which was scheduled to be live-streamed by Vox, was cancelled after police ordered the organisers to call off the event.

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Ning Zhu, founder of Vox, Wuhan’s first live-music venue, said, "We’ve actually cancelled or postponed over 60 live performances. The performance here usually has to be scheduled ahead of time, basically six months ahead of time, in particular for the performance on weekends. The epidemic has great influence. We don’t have performance, which means nobody comes here and means we won’t have revenue."

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The city that gave the world COVID-19 remains fearful of new outbreaks, forbidding live shows, forcing performances online. 

The total number of coronavirus cases in China as of Tuesday was 83,022, while the death toll stood at 4,634. China does not count asymptomatic cases, meaning people who are infected with the virus but do not exhibit symptoms of the disease, as confirmed cases. 

The coronavirus is believed to have jumped from an animal to people in a market selling wildlife in Wuhan late last year.