China locks down two cities with 18.5 million residents as deadly virus spreads

City officials in China’s of Wuhan, where the 2019 novel coronavirus originated, have shut down public transport and ordered 11 million residents not to leave the city. Wuhan is believed to be the origin city of new deadly outbreak. There is a large fish market in Wuhan, and the first cases diagnosed were related to it. How long restrictive measures will remain in force has not yet been announced. The new deadly virus continues to spread and has killed 17 people there, with more than 600 people infected on the Chinese mainland.

Local transportation networks, airports and train stations in Wuhan will be closed from 10am on Thursday morning, state media reported on Wednesday. The government has also asked citizens not to leave the city except in special circumstances.

The authorities in the Chinese city of Huanggan also announced that from January 24, public transport, including intercity, in the city will be suspended in an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The central market will stop working, all mass events will be canceled. Authorities are asking not to leave the city unnecessarily, and to cancel visits to Huanggang if possible. All those entering or leaving the city will be checked and immediately hospitalized in case of suspicion.

More than 7.5 million people live in Huanggang. It became the second city with a million population, which was virtually isolated due to the outbreak of pneumonia.

Wuhan and Hangang are located in Hubei Province. There are cases of infection in other regions of the country. The number of people infected with coronavirus in China exceeded 600 people, 95 of them are in serious condition. Despite the measures taken, the disease spread beyond China.

Experts fear that the coronavirus may mutate. In addition, there is a risk that the disease can be transmitted using various loads, since the pathogen is quite resistant to the external environment.

Cases have also been confirmed in the US, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. However, disease experts in the UK believe that nearly 2,000 people may be infected and not showing symptoms.