Death toll from China virus rises to 259, border curbs disrupt more flights
Workers assemble face masks on an emergency production line at a factory in Nantong in eastern China's Jiangsu Province, Feb. 1. AP
The number of deaths from the coronavirus epidemic in China has risen by 46 to 259, the country's health authorities said Saturday, as the United States and other nations announced new border curbs on foreigners who have visited the country recently.
Wuhan in Hubei Province, the epicenter of the epidemic, is under a virtual quarantine, with roads sealed off and public transport shut down. Elsewhere in China, the authorities have placed restrictions on travel and business activity in a bid to contain the spread of the virus.
In its latest figures, China's National Health Commission said there were 2,102 new confirmed infections in the country as of Friday, bringing the cumulative total to 11,791. Around two dozen other countries have reported confirmed cases of the virus.
Amid growing international concern, Singapore and the United States announced measures to restrict entry to foreign nationals who have recently been in China.
Australia followed suit, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying the country will deny entry to all foreign nationals travelling from mainland China from Saturday.
"We're in fact operating with an abundance of caution in these circumstances," Morrison told reporters in Sydney. "So Australians can go about their daily lives with confidence."
However, the World Health Organization, which this week declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, reiterated global trade and travel restrictions were not needed.
"We would want countries to focus on the mitigation efforts of identifying the possible importation of cases and responding to any domestic outbreak," China WHO representative Gauden Galea told Reuters, Saturday.
Qantas Airways Ltd and Air New Zealand said international travel bans had forced them to suspend their direct flights to China from Feb. 9.
All three major U.S. airlines said Friday they would cancel flights to mainland China.
Nearly 10,000 flights have been suspended since the outbreak of the new coronavirus, according to travel and data analytics firm Cirium, illustrating concerns about a slowdown in economic activity in China and elsewhere. (Reuters)