Chinese city stops outbound flights, trains to fight virus

Beijing — A Chinese city of more than 11 million people planned to shut down outbound flights and trains today as the world’s most populous country battled the spread of a new virus that has sickened hundreds of people and killed 17, state media reported.

Everyone in the city of Wuhan was to be restricted to some degree. The state-owned People’s Daily newspaper said no one would be allowed to leave. The official Xinhua News Agency said no one would be permitted to leave without a specific reason.

Train stations and the airport were to shut down at 10 a.m. Buses, subways, ferries and long-distance shuttle buses also would be temporarily closed.

Most of the cases are in Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province, but dozens of infections have popped up this week around the country as millions travel for the Lunar New Year, one of the world’s largest annual migrations of people. A handful of infected people who came from Wuhan also have been found overseas.

In Geneva, the World Health Organization put off deciding whether to declare the outbreak a global health emergency and asked an expert committee to continue meeting for a second day today.

“We need more information,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

WHO defines a global emergency as an “extraordinary event” that constitutes a risk to other countries and requires a coordinated international response.

When asked about Wuhan’s public transport shutdown, WHO chief Tedros said authorities were likely acting to prevent transmission and mass gatherings.

“We cannot say they have done something unusual,” he said.

The number of new cases has risen sharply in China, the center of the outbreak. The 17 deaths were all in Hubei province, where the outbreak emerged in the provincial capital of Wuhan late last month. Wuhan authorities said the province has confirmed 444 cases, which would bring the national total to more than 500.