20m people held in lockdown at centre of outbreak
China effectively quarantined 20 million people against the deadly coronavirus last night in what is thought to be the largest operation ever of its kind.
Authorities grounded flights, blocked roads and closed train stations to stop residents leaving Wuhan, the epicentre of the mystery disease, while restrictions were imposed on five further cities in Hubei province.
At least 18 people have died and 600 people are known to have contracted the virus that is thought to have come from a wholesale food market in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people.
Travellers arriving after the Wuhan ban went into effect yesterday morning were met by police, Swat teams, paramilitary guards and metal barriers at the high-speed train station.
Transport links were also sealed off in the cities of Huanggang, Ezhou, Lichuan, Xiantao and Xianning.
Authorities in Huanggang have told residents not to leave, and ordered entertainment venues such as cinemas and internet cafes to shut their doors.
The Chinese Government has scrambled to put emergency measures in place ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins today.
Beijing is cancelling the celebrations planned for the next few days, and closed the Forbidden
City, the capital’s most famous tourist attraction.
Chinese new year represents the world’s biggest annual migration, with hundreds of millions of people expected to travel in the country and abroad, which could complicate how the coronavirus spreads.
Despite division within its ranks the World Health Organisation declared yesterday it was ‘‘too early to consider’’ the unfolding outbreak an international health emergency.
‘‘Make no mistake, this is an emergency in China,’’ said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general.
‘‘But it has not yet become a global health emergency – it may yet become one.’’
Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of health emergencies at the WHO, added that more cases and deaths were likely to emerge in the coming days.
‘‘The outbreak is still evolving – we are not in a position to say that it has peaked,’’ he said.
Chinese authorities have pledged to spend RMB 1 billion (NZ$218 million) on preventing the spread of the disease in Hubei province amid mounting criticism inside the country. However, experts have cast doubt on the effectiveness of their quarantine measures.
Dr Michael Osterholm, director of the Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, said that although ‘‘nothing in history can compare’’ to the operation, maintaining the quarantine was ‘‘impossible’’.
Jeremy Konyndyk, senior policy