BEIJING (Reuters) – The United States will soon resume operations at its consulate in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the novel coronavirus outbreak began late last year, the U.S. Embassy said on Wednesday.

U.S. ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, “intends to resume operations in Wuhan in the near future”, Frank Whitaker, minister counselor for Public Affairs at the embassy, said in an email to Reuters, without giving a specific date.

The U.S. State Department withdrew consulate staff and their families in late January after the Chinese government put the city under lockdown to curb the spread of the virus.

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Wuhan, a central Chinese city with a population of about 11 million, has accounted for the majority of China’s coronavirus cases and deaths, though the epidemic has since subsided there and in other parts of the country.

Since apparently jumping to people in a Wuhan market selling wildlife, the coronavirus has spread globally, infecting more than 7 million people and killing more than 410,000.

(This story corrects spelling of name of U.S. embassy official in second paragraph)