China stiffens defences against epidemic as death toll hits 56

China expanded drastic travel restrictions Monday to contain an epidemic that has killed 56 people and infected nearly 2,000, as the US, France and Japan prepared to evacuate their citizens from a quarantined city at the outbreak’s epicentre.

China has locked down the hard-hit province of Hubei in the
country’s centre in an unprecedented operation affecting tens of millions of
people in a bid to slow the spread of the respiratory virus.

Its ability to spread appears to be “getting
stronger” though it is “not as powerful as SARS”, top Chinese
health officials said at a press conference.

The previously unknown virus has caused global concern
because of its similarity to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
pathogen, which killed hundreds across mainland China and Hong Kong in
2002-2003.

Outside the epicentre, Shandong province and four cities —
Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an and Tianjin — announced bans on long-distance buses
entering or leaving, a move that will affect millions of people travelling over
the Lunar New Year holiday.

The populous southern province of Guangdong, Jiangxi in the
centre, and three cities made it mandatory for residents to wear face masks in
public.

Originating in Hubei’s capital of Wuhan, the virus has
spread throughout China and across the world — with cases confirmed in around a
dozen countries including as far away as the United States.

The US State Department said Sunday it was arranging a
flight from Wuhan to San Francisco for consulate staff and other Americans in
the city.

France’s government and the French carmaker PSA also said
they planned to evacuate staff and families, who will be quarantined in a city
in a neighbouring province.

Japan is coordinating with Beijing to swiftly evacuate its
citizens, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.

South Korea’s consulate in Wuhan said it was conducting an
online poll of its citizens there to gauge demand for a chartered flight out.

Fear in Wuhan

Instead of New Year revelry, Wuhan has been seized by an
eerie calm that deepened on Sunday as new restrictions banned most road traffic
in the metropolis of 11 million.

Loudspeakers broke the silence by offering tips slathered
with bravado.

“Do not believe in rumours. Do not spread rumours. If
you feel unwell, go to the hospital in time,” the message said.

“Wuhan is a city that dares to face difficulties and
keeps overcoming them,” the female voice added, mentioning the deadly
2002-03 SARS epidemic and 1998 Yangtze River flooding.

The health emergency has overwhelmed Wuhan’s hospitals with
patients, prompting authorities to send hundreds of medical reinforcements,
including military doctors, and start construction on two field hospitals.

The number of confirmed cases in the city could rise by
1,000, Wuhan’s mayor Zhou Xianwang predicted Sunday, based on the number
currently undergoing observation in hospital.

He also said around five million people had left the city
during the new year travel rush.

Speaking at a press conference and wearing a face mask, Zhou
said the city’s medical staff were “very strained and tired”.

With non-essential vehicles banned from the road, volunteers
stepped up to drive sick fellow citizens to hospitals.

“There has to be someone who does this,” Zhang Lin,
48, told AFP journalists as he waited for a patient to emerge from a clinic for
the drive back home in nearly deserted streets.

Some foreigners in Wuhan expressed deep concern, saying they
feared going outside.

“We want to be evacuated as soon as possible, because
either the virus, the hunger or the fear will kill us,” Mashal Jamalzai, a
political science student from Afghanistan at Central China Normal University,
told AFP.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
has determined that a Wuhan market where animals including rats, snakes and
hedgehogs were reportedly sold is “highly relevant” to the outbreak,
state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday.

On Sunday, the government said it was banning all trade in
wildlife until the emergency is over, but conservationists complain that
Beijing has previously failed to deliver on such pledges.

Animal rights groups called for the ban to be made
permanent, saying it could end the possibility of future outbreaks.

Another Disneyland closes

Health officials said the virus has since become
transmissible between humans.

“From what we see now, this disease is indeed… not as
powerful as SARS,” said Gao Fu, head of China’s Centre for Disease Control
and Prevention, at a press briefing in Beijing.

However, it also appears that the “spreading ability of
the virus is getting stronger,” said Ma Xiaowei, head of China’s national
health commission.

The government says most deaths involved the elderly or
people with existing ailments.

Fearing a repeat of SARS, China has dramatically scaled back
celebrations and travel associated with the New Year holiday, which began
Friday, while tourist sites like Beijing’s Forbidden City and a section of the
Great Wall have closed.

In Hong Kong, Disneyland announced Sunday it had closed as a
precaution after the city declared an emergency to combat the crisis.
Shanghai’s Disneyland park had already closed Saturday.

Also in Hong Kong, protesters opposed to government plans to
use a newly built public housing facility as a quarantine centre threw petrol
bombs at the building, showing how fearful people are of the virus.

A new working group to tackle the epidemic, chaired by
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, called for local authorities to consider
“extending the Spring Festival holiday”, in order to prevent the
movement of people.

Several cities responded, with new school terms delayed in
Beijing, Shanghai and the city of Suzhou in eastern Jiangsu province — which
also ordered companies to extend the end of the holiday until February 9.

Article source: https://www.samaa.tv/global/2020/01/china-stiffens-defences-against-epidemic-as-death-toll-hits-56/