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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 29 January 2020
Deaths rise to 132 in China outbreak as foreigners leave

BEIJING (AP) — Countries
on Wednesday began
evacuating their citizens
from the Chinese city hard-
est-hit by an outbreak of a
new virus that has killed 132
people and infected more
than 6,000 on the mainland
and abroad.
China's latest figures cover
the previous 24 hours and
add 26 to the number of
deaths, 25 of which were in
the Hubei province and its
capital, Wuhan. The 5,974
cases on the mainland
were a rise of 1,459 from
the previous day. Dozens of
infections of the new type
of coronavirus have been
confirmed outside main-
land China as well.
Earlier in the morning, a
plane carrying Americans
who had been in Wuhan In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a pilot wearing a protective suit parks a cargo plane at Wuhan Tianhe
left for Anchorage, Alas- International Airport in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020.
ka, where they will be re- Associated Press
screened for the virus. Hos- patients with the virus. commitment to bringing it It said discussions focused China as soon as possible,
pitals are prepared to treat The sharp rise in infec- under control, WHO said in on ways to cooperate to it said. The source of the
or quarantine people who tions recently suggests sig- a news release. contain the virus in Wu- virus and the full extent of
may be infected. Then the nificant human-to-human "The National Health Com- han and other cities and its spread are still unknown.
plane is scheduled to fly to spread of the virus, though mission presented China's provinces and studies that However, WHO said most
Ontario, California. it could also be explained strong public health ca- could contribute to the cases reported to date
A Japanese chartered by expanded monitoring pacities and resources development of medical "have been milder, with
flight carrying 206 evacu- efforts, said Malik Peiris, to respond and manage countermeasures such as around 20% of those infect-
ees from Wuhan landed chair in virology at the Uni- respiratory disease out- vaccines and treatments. ed experiencing severe
early Wednesday at To- versity of Hong Kong. breaks," the release said. Other WHO experts will visit illness."q
kyo's Haneda airport. Experts worry the new vi-
The British government is rus may spread more eas-
warning against "all but es- ily than originally thought,
sential travel" to mainland or may have mutated into
China amid the outbreak a form that does so. It is
of the new type of coro- from the coronavirus fam-
navirus. And Hong Kong's ily, which also can cause
leader said the territory will the common cold as well
cut all rail links to the main- as more serious illnesses
land and halve the number such as SARS and MERS,
of flights to stop the spread which both emerged in
of the virus. South Korea the past two decades and
also said it will send a plane, are thought to have come
and France, Mongolia and from animals.
other governments also The new virus causes cold-
planned evacuations. and flu-like symptoms, in-
China has cut off access cluding cough and fever,
to Wuhan and 16 other and in more severe cases,
cities in Hubei province to shortness of breath and
prevent people from leav- pneumonia. It is thought
ing and spreading the virus to have spread to people
further. The lockdown has from wild animals sold at
trapped more than 50 mil- a Wuhan market. China
lion people in the most far- on Sunday temporarily
reaching disease control banned trade in wild ani-
measures ever imposed. mals and urged people
The Japanese flight was to stop eating meat from
bringing 20,000 face masks them. On Tuesday, Direc-
as well as protective gear, tor-General of the World
all in short supply as Chinese Health Organization Tedros
hospitals treat a growing Adhanom Ghebreyesus
number of patients. Wuhan met with Chinese leader Xi
is building two hospitals in Jinping to discuss the lat-
a matter of days to add est information on the out-
2,500 beds for treatment of break and reiterate their