MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Coronavirus outbreak in China: WHO could declare global health emergency

Hundreds of people have been infected with the virus in China and 19 have died since the first case was detected in Wuhan on Dec 31

China said it was halting flights and trains from Thursday out of Wuhan, the city of 11 million people at the centre of a deadly SARS-like virus outbreak, as the UN extended emergency talks on the disease.

The central city's special command centre against the virus also said that residents should not leave without a special reason and that the measures would be effective from 0200 GMT, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The move is meant to “resolutely contain the momentum of the epidemic spreading,” the centre was quoted as saying.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus meanwhile said he was postponing a decision on whether or not to declare a global health emergency - a rare instrument used only for the worst outbreaks - saying he needed “more information”.

“I have decided to ask the emergency committee to meet again tomorrow to continue their discussion,” he said, referring to a group of international experts who met for several hours at the WHO in Geneva on Wednesday.

Asked about the transport shutdown, he added: “By having a strong action not only will they control the outbreak in their country but they will also minimize the chances of this outbreak spreading internationally.”

Hundreds of people have been infected with the virus in China and 19 have died since the first case was detected in Wuhan on Dec 31 and authorities have already urged visitors to steer clear of the city.

The coronavirus has caused alarm because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.

With hundreds of millions of people travelling across China this week for the Lunar New Year holiday, the National Health Commission also announced measures to contain the disease - including sterilization and ventilation at airports and bus stations, as well as inside planes and trains.

The illness is mainly transmitted via the respiratory tract and there “is the possibility of viral mutation and further spread of the disease”, health commission vice minister Li Bin told a news conference in Beijing.