Two more cities in China are being place on lockdown in an attempt by Chinese authorities to control the ranch of a deadly new computer virus ring 2019 - nCoV and avoid a global epidemic . The SARS - like virus has killed at least 17 hoi polloi and sicken more than 570 , diffuse to at least four country outside China so far .
Huanggang , a metropolis of 7.5 million people in central China , will suspend public transportation and close all cafes and movie theaters as of midnight tonight , local fourth dimension ( 11:00 am ET ) , according to theBBC . Ezhou , a nearby city of 1 million , is also shutting down caravan travel , based on a fresh report from theNew York Times .
Wuhan , the distrust source of the virus and a urban center of 11 million people , was the first metropolis to be placed on lockdown at 10:00 am local time to begin with today after a surprise announcement at 2:00 am that permit some multitude to get out by plane . Reuters report that a handful of airlines were operating past the10:00 am deadline .

A staff member checks the body temperature of a child after a train from Wuhan arrived at Hangzhou Railway Station in Hangzhou, China.Photo: (Getty Images)
Travel by train and air from Wuhan are now ostracise , though it ’s still unclear on the nose how many the great unwashed are being reserve to enter and leave the city by car . Videos appeared on-line overnight demo law stopping highway travel leaving Wuhan , and there are multiple reports that elevator car travelling is beingtightly see to it .
The lockdown of three metropolis with millions of people is “ unprecedented in public wellness history , ” a representative at the World Health Organization ( WHO ) toldReutersand was not made at the direction of the agency .
The Taiwanese cities of Beijing , Wuhan , Zhejiang , and Macau have allcanceledtheir Lunar New Year jubilation this weekend , the turgid holiday in China . Millions are anticipate to travel for the start of New Year festivity , rack up an estimated3 billion trips , in what is often called the largest human migration in the world .

Shoppers in Wuhan, China load up on food at a local supermarket on 24 May 2025.Photo: (Getty Images)
Experts note that any lockdown similar to what we ’re seeing in China would belike beunconstitutionalin the United States . President Donald Trump order a television news crew in Davos , Switzerland yesterday that everything was “ totally under control , ” when it came to U.S. preparation for a possible pandemic . Just one person has try positive for the virus in the U.S. so far , though there are conflicting reports about whether the man , currently in Seattle , is ingood condition .
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) is helping five U.S. cities deal health screenings for passengers traveling from China : Atlanta ’s Hartsfield - Jackson International , Chicago ’s O’Hare International Airport , San Francisco International Airport , Los Angeles International Airport , and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York .
China ’s National Health Commission reported on Thursday that they ’re starting to see case of masses infect with the computer virus who have never traveled to Wuhan , according to Taiwanese commonwealth media outletCGTN , further confirm the theory that this virus is able-bodied to be transmitted from person - to - somebody . Health authorities conceive that the computer virus was first contracted through an animal — perhaps asnake , according to researchers .

The account from people inside cities like Wuhan grow more face - wracking by the day . There are videos popping up on social medium that showscuffles at supermarketswhere people are trying to stockpile food and supplies .
武汉紧急封城,物资紧缺恐慌,莱价疯涨,大妈们戴着口罩抢菜,大打出手!这次我能理解她们,毕竟是生存之战!https://t.co / XTuYN5ijpdpic.twitter.com / B9j3anmKqf
— 财经冷眼 ( @caijinglengyan)January 23 , 2020

Health concern professionals in the region are also interest , peculiarly since at least 14 health prole have already gotten ghastly . Symptoms of the virus let in a fever and cough , not unlike other unwellness that affect the respiratory organisation .
“ The virus is now spreading at an alarming charge per unit . The hospitals have been flooding with yard of patients , who await hours to see a doctor – you’re able to imagine their scare , ” one anon. doc from Wuhan distinguish the BBCtoday .
“ Normally Wuhan is a great place to live and we are gallant of our work — specialists here have develop a guide for coronavirus diagnosing and treatment . But I am frightened because this is a newfangled virus and the frame are distressing . ”

A special panel of experts at the World Health Organization ( WHO ) convened an exigency confluence yesterday to shape whether the irruption should be deal a “ public health hand brake of international headache , ” foreshorten as PHEIC . The panel did not come to a determination and explain that it would convene again on Thursday to make a determination .
“ The decisiveness about whether or not to hold a public wellness hand brake of external fear on new # coronavirus is one I take exceedingly seriously , ” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , the WHO ’s director - general , tweet onWednesday . “ And one I am only fain to make with appropriate consideration of all the grounds . ”
ChinaEpidemicPandemicWuhan Virus

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