China yesterday locked down two major cities in a province at the center of a deadly coronavirus outbreak, banning airplanes and trains from leaving in an unprecedented move aimed at containing the disease, which has already spread to other countries.
The respiratory virus has claimed 17 lives since emerging from a seafood and animal market in Wuhan, infected hundreds of other people nationwide and been detected as far away as the US.
Residents in Wuhan, a major port city in Hubei Province with a population of 11 million, were told not to leave “without a special reason,” with the order backed by a transport shutdown.
Photo: AFP
Trains and flights out of Wuhan were indefinitely suspended and tollways on roads out of the city were closed, leading to fear and panic for those trapped.
Hours later, authorities in neighboring Huanggang announced that public transportation and train services would be suspended at midnight, while people were told to not leave the city of 7.5 million.
All of Huanggang’s movie theaters and Internet cafes, as well as the central market, were to shut down.
A third city, Ezhou, with a population of 1.1 million, announced that its train station had been temporarily closed earlier in the day.
Wuhan’s train station and airport, which should have been packed with people traveling for holiday family reunions, were almost empty except for workers yesterday afternoon.
Few people were seen in the streets of the city and all were wearing masks.
More than 570 people have been infected with the virus across China — with most cases in Wuhan, where a seafood market that illegally sold wild animals has been identified as the likely epicenter of the outbreak.
The coronavirus has caused alarm because of its similarity to SARS, which killed hundreds of people worldwide in 2002 and 2003. Like SARS, it can be passed among people through the respiratory tract.
The first case of the new virus was confirmed on Dec. 31, and it has since been detected in Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Thailand and the US.
The 17 people who died in China were aged 48 to 89 and had pre-existing health conditions, Chinese health authorities said yesterday.
The WHO on Wednesday delayed a decision on whether to declare a global health emergency — a rare instrument used only for the worst outbreaks.
The emergency committee was to meet again yesterday after its chair, Didier Houssin, said that the experts were split over declaring an emergency.
WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that “more information” was needed, but he also praised China’s “very, very strong measures” that would help control the epidemic and “minimize the chances of this outbreak spreading internationally.”
Chinese state media quoted Wuhan’s special disease command center as saying that the quarantine measures are meant to “effectively cut off the virus spread, resolutely curb the outbreak and guarantee the people’s health and safety.”
While departures were banned, trains and airplanes were still allowed into the city, with the tourism and culture department canceling all group tours until Feb. 8, state media reported.
Wuhan has also canceled large public events for the holiday, which starts today.
Animals are suspected to be the primary source of the outbreak, with Chinese health officials saying that the virus originated from the market, where wild animals were illegally sold.
Studies published this week suggested that the virus might have originally come from bats or snakes.
The WHO has confirmed that the virus can be transmitted between people, at least those in close contact. Chinese health officials warned it could mutate and spread further.
“There are many unknowns to address in this event, including clinical severity and the true extent and nature of disease transmission,” said Michael Ryan, head of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme.
Chinese authorities yesterday reported dozens of new infections, bringing the confirmed total to 571.
Nearly 2,000 Taiwanese businesspeople were in Wuhan, but most have returned to Taiwan, Wuhan Taiwanese Business Association chairman Lin Chi-chang (林志昶) said yesterday, after the Wuhan City Government stopped all transport systems and Taiwanese airlines suspended flights to the city.
Those staying in Wuhan should reduce their outdoor activities, former association chairman Yu Ming-chim (余明進) said.
Additional reporting by CNA
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RSS