This undated photo shows Wuhan, central China's Hubei province. (XIONG QI/XINHUA)

BEIJING - The United States will soon resume operations at its consulate in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which was the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak late last year, the US Embassy said on Wednesday.

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US 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 US 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. The epidemic has since subsided there and in other parts of the country.