Tens of thousands of people in Wuhan, the origin point and epicentre for the coronavirus pandemic, travelled out of the sprawling city on Wednesday as China lifted its 76-day lockdown that sealed off around 11 million people in the city, even as health experts warn that the threat of a rebound in infections remains far from over.

Within hours of the lifting of the travel ban, thousands of people wearing masks travelled out of the city as trains, domestic flights and taxis resumed operations, ending the city's painful isolation due to COVID-19 which was first detected there in December last year.

The government has lifted the ban on road, air and train travel for all the locals who have acquired health certificates.

The easing of travel restrictions came after new infections have been drastically reduced across China, even as the number of fresh COVID-19 cases crossed 1,000 in the country and two new deaths heightened concerns of a rebound in infections.

After barricades were removed at toll gates around Wuhan at Tuesday midnight, vehicles in long lines honked horns and rushed out, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Cars queued up at expressway toll gates and passengers prepared to board trains to leave Wuhan as the megacity started lifting outbound travel restrictions, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Guo Lei, who ran a business in Wuhan, drove his car with six other people aboard to a toll gate at around 8:40 pm (local time) and waited for a homebound trip.

'I can't wait returning to my hometown,' said Guo, a native of east China's Shandong Province.

'I have lived in Wuhan for eight years. During the Spring Festival holiday, my relatives came to the city and helped me deliver goods. We were all stranded here due to the epidemic,' Guo said.

Shortly after midnight at Wuchang Railway Station, more than 400 passengers jumped on a train heading for Guangzhou in the south, the first train that left Wuhan after the lockdown was lifted.

More than 55,000 passengers were expected to leave Wuhan by train on Wednesday.

Xinhua said there would be around 200 flights on Wednesday.

A China Eastern airlines flight to the Phoenix International Airport in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, was the first flight flying from Wuhan after the outbound travel restrictions were lifted on Wednesday

On January 23, Wuhan declared unprecedented traffic restrictions, including suspending the city's public transport and all outbound flights and trains. Similar restrictions were soon introduced in other areas in Hubei.

For weeks, the megacity had been the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in China, reporting over 50,000 confirmed cases and more than 2,500 deaths, accounting for 61 percent and 77 percent of the national total, respectively.

On March 18, Wuhan reported no new infections for the first time and has since largely maintained the positive trend.

The Wuhan lockdown was lifted even as epidemiologists warned that it is not the time to completely lower the guard and ease on full-scale restrictions, considering the looming asymptomatic patients and possible rebound in infections, the official media reported.

As more enterprises resume their operations, Wuhan has seen an increase of nearly 400,000 vehicles in transit in the past half month, and the number is expected to reach 1.8 million after Wednesday, according to the city's traffic police.

Over 270 passenger trains will leave Wuhan for Shanghai, Shenzhen and other cities, Xinhua report said.

The railway authorities required passengers to scan health codes and have temperatures checked when entering the stations and wear masks to reduce the risks of infection.

Workers have disinfected bullet trains, the entrance and exits, waiting halls and platforms of the railway stations in advance.

Wuhan Tianhe International Airport started resuming domestic passenger flights early Wednesday.

More than 200 flights were expected to operate on the day. The crew wore goggles, masks, and gloves throughout the flight.

Flight attendants provided masks for passengers if they had fever, cough and other symptoms, and recorded their personal information and contact history within 14 days.

The central Hubei province has already lifted all the travel restrictions.

The Chinese health authority said on Wednesday that 62 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported on the Chinese mainland on Tuesday, including 59 cases of people returning from abroad, taking the total tally to 1,042.

Three new domestic cases were reported, including two in Shandong Province and one in Guangdong Province, the National Health Commission (NHC) said.

Also on Tuesday, 137 new asymptomatic COVID-19 cases were reported and 1,095 asymptomatic cases were still under medical observation, the NHC said.

Asymptomatic coronavirus cases are those who test positive for the virus but do not show any symptoms and have the potential to cause sporadic clusters of infections.

Two deaths were reported on Tuesday, with one in Shanghai and the other in Hubei Province, taking the overall death toll in the country to 3,333, it said.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 81,802 by Tuesday, including 1,190 patients still being treated, 77,279 patients discharged after recovery, and 3,333 people died of the disease.

No new confirmed case of coronavirus was reported on Tuesday in Hubei province and its capital Wuhan, but the province recorded one death.