Central China’s Hubei Province, hit hard by the novel coronavirus outbreak, has started sending out workers after new infections petered out in most of its cities.

    The cities of Jingzhou, Huanggang, Xianning and Qianjiang have arranged chartered vehicles to send out thousands of migrant workers at a time when factories across China are rushing to resume work amid a labor crunch.

    The move came as Chinese officials said the outbreak had mostly run its course domestically. Authorities on Monday called for an orderly withdrawal of medical teams supporting Hubei.

    On Sunday, 49 chartered vehicles, carrying 1,445 workers, departed from Huanggang, which has reported no new infections for 13 days.

    The city, among the hardest hit by the virus due to its proximity to Wuhan, has recorded 2,907 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

    Local officials said 750,000 migrant workers who returned home for the Spring Festival holiday have been stranded in Huanggang since travel restrictions were imposed to minimize infection risks.

    The city government has contacted firms in Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces to receive local workers and sent police officers and medics to escort the chartered vehicles.

    Yang Qiuli, a local resident who works in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen, said the chartered buses came at a critical time. “I’ve been burning with anxiety since the end of the holiday as I couldn’t return to work. I would have lost my job if the return was delayed any further,” she said.

    In Jianli County, under Jingzhou, 70 workers had their temperatures taken before boarding buses heading toward a company in Shenzhen. Organizers said the seat occupancy of the buses was limited to no more than 50 percent.

    On Sunday morning, another 72 workers from Qianjiang arrived in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, after an 11-hour journey on four chartered buses.

    “They will go through a 14-day quarantine at a designated spot upon arrival. The Shaoxing government will shoulder all the expenses incurred and their daily supplies during the isolation,” said Xuan Fangjun with Shaoxing’s human resources and social security bureau.

    Xuan said about 76,000 Hubei people worked in Shaoxing last year, and the city has also planned chartered trains to get back 500 workers from Hubei’s Enshi on Tuesday.