As a bus left its departure station at Hankou Railway Station at 5:25 a.m. on Wednesday, Wuhan started to resume bus service after nine weeks of lockdown.

Wuhan, the capital of central China's Hubei Province which was once hit hard by COVID-19 outbreak, resumed a total of 117 bus routes starting Wednesday, around 30 percent of the city's total bus transport capacity, the municipal transport bureau said.

Apart from a driver, a safety supervisor was also on each bus, whose duty was to make sure all passengers scan a QR code using their mobile phones to certify their health status before boarding.

"For those who do not have health codes, they should bring with them a health certificate issued by their residential community," said Zhou Jingjing, a safety supervisor aboard a bus departing from Wuchang Railway Station complex.

The bus drivers and safety supervisors should be screened for fever every day, wear masks and gloves during the trip, open windows for ventilation and disinfect the buses after each trip.

Zhou said all passengers must wear masks and sit apart from one another to reduce the risk of cross-infection.

Bus passenger Shao Xuefen, a supermarket worker in Wuhan, spent around three hours commuting to work by bike every day since the supermarket resumed business on March 10.

"I am excited that the bus service has been resumed. It helps a lot. I hope more bus routes can return to normal," Shao said.

Having worked for 12 years as a bus driver, Zhou hopes to get back to the driver's seat soon. "I'm looking forward to the day when the epidemic is over and life in Wuhan returns to normal," she said.

From Saturday, six metro lines are expected to reopen to the public in Wuhan. The service time will be published at the stations, the municipal transport bureau said.

According to a spokesperson of the bureau, passengers must wear masks, have their temperatures checked, register with their real names and scan a QR code before taking buses and subways. To minimize the infection risk, people who are vulnerable to the virus including those aged above 65 are not recommended to take public transportation.

On Jan. 23, Wuhan declared unprecedented traffic restrictions, including suspending the city's public transport and all outbound flights and trains, in an attempt to block the spread of the epidemic to other areas. Similar restrictions were soon introduced in other areas in Hubei.