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 Health officials fear the transmission rate will accelerate as
hundreds of millions of Chinese travel at home and abroad during
week-long holidays for the Lunar New Year, which begins on Saturday.
The previously unknown virus strain is believed to have emerged late
last year from illegally traded wildlife at an animal market in the
central Chinese city of Wuhan.
Most transport in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, was suspended
on Thursday morning and people were told not to leave. Hours later,
state media in neighboring Huanggang, a city of some 6 million
people, said it was imposing a similar lockdown.
Chinese authorities gave no new details on the numbers of virus
infections but it has been reported in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong
Kong, and several other countries including the United States,
stoking fears it is already spreading worldwide.
Wuhan's city government said it would shut down all urban transport
networks and suspend outgoing flights from 10 a.m. (0200 GMT).
Domestic media said some airlines were operating after the deadline,
however.
State media broadcast images of one of Wuhan's transport hubs, the
Hankou rail station, nearly deserted, with gates blocked or barred.
The government is urging citizens not to leave the city.
State media reported highway toll booths around Wuhan were closing
down, which would effectively cut off road exits. Guards were
patrolling major highways, one resident told Reuters.
As the city slipped into isolation, residents thronged into
hospitals for checks and scrambled for supplies, clearing out
supermarket shelves and queuing for petrol.
Authorities in Huanggang ordered indoor entertainment venues
including cinemas and internet cafes to close and were asking
citizens not to leave other than under special circumstances, state
media said.
Authorities had confirmed 571 cases and 17 deaths by the end of
Wednesday, China's National Health Commission said. Earlier, it said
another 393 suspected cases had been reported.
Of eight known cases worldwide, Thailand has confirmed four, while
Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States have reported one
each.
In a report on Wednesday, Imperial College London said it estimated
a total of 4,000 cases of the coronavirus in Wuhan alone as of Jan.
18, an infection rate based on the number of cases reported in China
and elsewhere.
VIRUS SPREADING
In contrast with its secrecy over the 2002-03 Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that killed nearly 800 people, China's
communist government has provided regular updates to avoid panic
ahead of the holidays.
During a visit to Wuhan, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said authorities
needed to be open about the virus and efforts to contain it, the
official Xinhua news agency said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said it will decide on
Thursday whether to declare the outbreak a global health emergency,
which would step up the international response.
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If it does so, it will be the sixth international public health
emergency to be declared in the last decade.
Some experts believe the new virus is not as dangerous as previous
coronaviruses such as SARS and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS),
which has killed more than 700 people since 2012.
"The early evidence at this stage would suggest it's not as severe,"
Australia's Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy told reporters.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in
Geneva that China's actions were "very strong" but called on it to
take "more and significant measures to limit or minimize the
international spread".
"We stressed to them that by having a strong action not only they
will control the outbreak in their country but they will also
minimize the chances of this outbreak spreading internationally. So
they recognize that," he said.
Despite China's response, stock markets across Asia were on the back
foot on Thursday, led by drops of roughly 1.5% in Hong Kong and
Shanghai while China's yuan fell to a two-week low.
FLIGHTS, RAIL SUSPENDED
There is no vaccine for the virus, which can spread through
respiratory transmission. Symptoms include fever, difficulty in
breathing and cough, similar to many other respiratory illnesses.
Preliminary research suggested the virus was passed on to humans
from snakes, but government medical adviser Zhong Nanshan has also
identified badgers and rats as possible sources. Confirmed sufferers
include 15 medical workers.
Many Chinese were cancelling trips, buying face masks and avoiding
cinemas and shopping centers, and even turning to an online plague
simulation game as a way to cope.
The release of seven movies over the Lunar New Year has been
postponed. The holiday is the high season for distributors and
cinemas attract huge crowds.
Airports globally stepped up screening of passengers from China and
the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said the
further global spread of the virus was likely.
"Obviously this is a huge concern for the world," Britain's business
minister, Andrea Leadsom, told Sky.
(Reporting by Yawen Chen, Se Young Lee and Sophie Yu in Beijing, Sam
Shen and Engen Tham in Shanghai, Ben Blanchard in Taiwan, Alison Lui
and Donny Kwok in Hong Kong, John Geddie and Aradhana Aravindan in
Singapore, Stephanie Ulmer-Nebehay in Geneva, Kate Kelland and
Elizabeth Howcroft in London; Writing by Michael Perry; Editing by
Stephen Coates and Clarence Fernandez)
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