WUHAN, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Wuhan, the Chinese city hardest hit by the novel coronavirus outbreak, will lift outbound travel restrictions from April 8 after over two months of lockdown, local authorities said Tuesday.

People in Wuhan will be allowed to leave the city and Hubei Province, where Wuhan is the capital, if they hold a green health code, meaning no contact with any infected or suspected COVID-19 cases, according to a circular issued by the provincial COVID-19 control headquarters.

Wuhan will take differentiated measures to promote the resumption of business operations based on the health risks of different regions to mitigate the impact on the economy, the circular said.

Other areas in Hubei will lift outbound transportation restrictions from Wednesday. Migrant workers who hold green codes and negative nucleic acid testing results will be sent out of the province to their workplace directly.

Hubei will continue to postpone the opening of schools until further notice, the circular said.

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 contain the epidemic within its territory. Similar restrictions were soon introduced in other areas in Hubei.

One new confirmed COVID-19 case was reported Monday in Wuhan after the city had seen zero new reports for five consecutive days. The case was the sole new confirmed case reported in Hubei Province on Monday.