Chinese city of Wuhan put in isolation over virus outbreak
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China closed off a city of more than 11 million people Thursday, halting transportation and warning against public gatherings, to try to stop the spread of a deadly new virus that has sickened hundreds and spread to other cities and countries in the Lunar New Year travel rush.
Police, SWAT teams and paramilitary troops stood guard at entrances to Wuhan’s train station. Travelers were arriving up to the last minute, with only those holding tickets for the last trains allowed to enter. Virtually everyone at the scene was wearing masks, news website The Paper’s live broadcast showed.
The respiratory illness has spread to other parts of China, with some cases in other countries including the US.
There are more than 500 confirmed cases and 17 people have died.
Known for now as 2019-nCoV, the virus is understood to be a new strain of coronavirus not previously identified in humans. The Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus that killed nearly 800 people globally in the early 2000s was also a coronavirus, as is the common cold.
All the fatalities so far have been in Hubei, the province around Wuhan.
Local authorities have demanded all residents wear masks in public places and urged government staff to wear them at work and for shopkeepers to post signs for their visitors, Xinhua quoted a government notice as saying.
“Those who disregard the warning will be punished according to relevant laws and regulations,” the notice said.
Virtually no one would be allowed to leave Wuhan, an industrial and transportation hub in central China’s Hubei province. Train stations, the airport, subways, ferries and long-distance shuttle buses were closed. The official Xinhua News Agency. It cited the city’s anti-virus task force as saying the measures were taken in an attempt to “effectively cut off the virus spread, resolutely curb the outbreak and guarantee the people’s health and safety.”
Meanwhile, after a day of discussions in Geneva, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) emergency committee has announced it will not yet declare a “global emergency” over the new virus.
Director general Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus said more information was needed about the spread of the infection. The committee of health experts will meet again on Thursday.
A global emergency is the highest level of alarm the WHO can sound and has previously been used in response to swine flu, Zika virus and Ebola.
