Beijing welcomed 866 people back to the capital from Wuhan, Hubei province — China's hardest-hit city and the place COVID-19 first emerged — on Wednesday afternoon.

After a 76-day lockdown, people stranded in Wuhan have begun gradually returning to the capital, Chen Bei, deputy secretary-general of the municipal government, said at a news conference on Wednesday.

It's estimated Beijing has about 11,000 residents stranded in Wuhan. Starting on Wednesday, around 1,000 people will return each day via train or car after having been tested twice for coronavirus — first in Wuhan and then again in Beijing.

Various departments have strengthened communications and contacts with their Hubei counterparts to properly arrange those people to come back, Chen said.

A two-week mandatory quarantine, either at home or at a designated venue, is also required for people returning from the beleaguered region.

On Wednesday afternoon, another train — from Hankou district in Wuhan to Fuzhou, Fujian province — carried 360 people from Hubei back to Fuizhou. Among them were 183 had been in Wuhan.

It was the first train from the Wuhan direction to Fujian after the lockdown was lifted.