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 China's Cabinet also announced it will extend the week-long Lunar
New Year holiday by three days to Feb. 2 and schools will return
from their break later than usual, state broadcaster CCTV said.
Health authorities around the world are racing to prevent a pandemic
of the virus, which has infected more than 2,000 people in China and
killed 56.
A handful of cases of infection have been reported in other
countries, including Thailand, Australia, the United States, France
and Canada. No fatalities have been recorded outside China.
The mayor of Wuhan, which is the capital of Hubei province and at
epicenter of the outbreak, said he expected another 1,000 new
patients in the city, which was stepping up construction of special
hospitals.
The newly identified coronavirus has created alarm because much
about it is still unknown, such as how dangerous it is and how
easily it spreads between people. It can cause pneumonia, which has
been deadly in some cases.
China's National Health Commission Minister Ma Xiaowei said the
incubation period for the virus can range from one to 14 days,
during which infection can occur.
The Lunar New Year holiday, traditionally celebrated by hundreds of
millions of Chinese traveling around the country and abroad to see
family, began on Friday but has been severely disrupted by the
outbreak.
Ma said China would intensify its containment efforts, which have so
far included transport and travel curbs and cancellation of big
events.
The virus, believed to have originated late last year in a seafood
market in Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife, has spread to
cities including Beijing and Shanghai.
Alibaba's Taobao online marketplace said it has removed sales of
face masks from shops that show "unstable prices or false
advertising", as prices for the products surged.
The World Health Organization this week stopped short of calling the
outbreak a global health emergency, but some health experts question
whether China can contain the epidemic.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was on his
way to Beijing to meet officials and health experts dealing with the
coronavirus.
Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, which has six confirmed cases, will also
ban entry from Monday to people who have visited Hubei province in
the past 14 days, the city's government said. The rule does not
apply to Hong Kong residents.
Hubei's governor, Wang Xiaodong, said on Sunday he felt "agonized"
and responsible for the outbreak. He described the situation as
severe and said medical supplies were still tight.
China confirmed 2,051 cases of infection as of 7 p.m. (1100 GMT) on
Jan. 26, while the death toll from the virus remained at 56, state
broadcaster CCTV reported.
Airports around the world have stepped up screening of passengers
from China, although some health officials and experts have
questioned the effectiveness of these efforts.
Health officials in Orange County, California, said a third case had
been registered in the United States in a traveler from Wuhan, who
was in isolation and in good condition.
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WILDLIFE SALES BAN
On Sunday, China temporarily banned nationwide the sale of wildlife
in markets, restaurants, and e-commerce platforms. Wild and often
poached animals packed together in Chinese markets are blamed as
incubators for viruses to evolve and jump the species barrier to
humans.
The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society called on China to
make the ban permanent.
The U.S. State Department said it will relocate personnel at its
Wuhan consulate to the United States, while Japan was working with
China to arrange a charter flight for Japanese nationals to return
from Wuhan. Around 50 Italians in Wuhan and the Hubei region were
offered transport out.
The outbreak has prompted widening curbs on movements within China,
with Wuhan, a city of 11 million, on virtual lockdown and transport
links all-but severed except for emergency vehicles.
CANCELLATIONS AND MISTRUST
Health authorities in Beijing urged people not to shake hands but
instead salute using a traditional cupped-hand gesture. The advice
was sent in a text message that went out to mobile phone users in
the city on Sunday morning.
Beijing also postponed the reopening of the city's schools and
universities after the Lunar New Year holiday, state radio reported.
Hong Kong had already delayed the reopening of schools to Feb. 17.
China has called for transparency in managing the crisis, after
public trust was eroded by a cover-up of the spread of SARS, a
coronavirus that originated in China and killed nearly 800 people
globally in 2002 and 2003.
But officials in Wuhan have been criticized for their handling of
the current outbreak.
"People in my hometown all suspect the real infected patients number
given by authorities," said Violet Li, who lives in the Wuhan
district where the seafood market is located.
Illustrating the extent of disruption to life in China, overall
passenger travel declined by nearly 29% on Saturday, the first day
of the Lunar New Year, from a year earlier, with air passengers down
nearly 42%, a transportation ministry official said.
Many cinemas across China were closed and cruise ship operators
canceled some sailings that had been due to leave Chinese ports.
In Hong Kong, Disneyland and Ocean Park were closed on Sunday.
Shanghai Disneyland, which expected 100,000 visitors daily over the
holiday, has already closed.
(GRAPHIC: Spread of the new coronavirus -
https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH/
0100B56G2WC/coronavirus.jpg)
(Reporting by Yilei Sun, Samuel Shen, Huizhong Wu, Se Young Lee,
Shivani Singh, Cheng Leng, Martin Pollard, Ben Blanchard; Additional
reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Tony Munroe,
Toby Chopra and Giles Elgood; Editing by Michael Perry and Frances
Kerry)
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