The death toll from a coronavirus outbreak in China rose to 81 on January 27, as the government extended the Lunar New Year holiday and more big business shut down or told staff to work from home in an effort to curb the spread.
The government is extending the week-long Lunar New Year holiday by three days to February 2, in a bid to slow the spread of the virus. The Lunar New Year is usually a time for millions of people to travel, but many have had to cancel their plans because of travel curbs over the virus.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited the central city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, as the government sought to signal it was responding seriously to the crisis. Wuhan is already in virtual lockdown and severe limits on movement are in place in several other Chinese cities. The city of 11 million clamped down further on Monday, announcing the suspension of visa and passport services until January 30.
The total number of confirmed cases in China raised about 30 percent to 2744, about half of them in Hubei province, whose capital is Wuhan. While a small number of cases have been confirmed in more than 10 countries, linked to people who travelled from Wuhan, no deaths have been reported elsewhere.
A nationwide ban on wildlife trade is in place and more than 56 million people in almost 20 cities are affected by travel restrictions, which have been introduced amid fears the transmission rate will balloon as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year celebrations.
Fourth case in the US confirmed
Health officials in Los Angeles County have confirmed a fourth United States case of the coronavirus. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said Sunday the infected person presented themselves for care once they noticed they were not feeling well and is currently receiving medical attention. The person is a returning traveller from Wuhan City, China.
