To the joy of the city’s 25 million citizens, Shanghai officials began tearing down gates around housing tracts and peeling police tape off public squares and buildings on Tuesday, just hours before a torturous two-month lockdown was ended at midnight.

On Monday evening, some of those permitted to leave their compounds for brief walks took advantage of the stopped traffic to assemble on desolate streets for a drink and ice cream, but there was a general air of unease and uneasiness among residents.

Most people will remain trapped inside until midnight, as they have been for the previous two months due to a brutally imposed lockdown that has resulted in income losses, stress, and despair for millions of people battling to acquire food or essential treatment.

The city’s industry and export-heavy economy has been damaged by the city’s protracted isolation, disrupting supply lines in China and throughout the world and hampering international commerce.