Lockdown measures are increasing across China's Hubei province to try to control the spread of a new virus that has left 17 people dead.
Wuhan, Hubei's capital of 11 million people where the Coronavirus first emerged, has no trains or planes in or out.
#Coronavirus threat forces Chinese airports to set up quarantine system pic.twitter.com/hdr64wG8nd
— RT (@RT_com) January 23, 2020
At least five other provincial cities are seeing clampdowns on transport.
There are more than 500 confirmed cases of the virus, which has spread abroad, with Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam the latest affected.
The new strain of coronavirus is believed to have originated at a market in Wuhan. One resident of the city said the atmosphere there felt like "the end of the world".
Helpful diagram by the WHO showing the various symptoms of the Wuhan #coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/XgAZvhgwWX
— INTELWAVE (@inteldotwav) January 23, 2020
The lockdowns come as millions of Chinese people travel across the country for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Health authorities are reported to have made wearing a mask mandatory in the city. They are advising people to avoid crowds and public gatherings.
All the fatalities so far have been in Hubei province. Most of the 17 victims were elderly and suffered from other chronic diseases including Parkinson's disease and diabetes.
[Source: BBC]
