InfoSearched
Published -
- January 23, 2020
- 2:06 pm
China has closed off two cities.
Wuhan and Huanggang, with a combined population of more than 18.5 million people — in an unprecedented effort to try to stop the spread of a deadly new virus.
How many people in China have been infected with the coronavirus so far?
In an effort to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, China has announced a lockdown of two major cities in the Hubei province. The decision to quarantine the cities of Wuhan, with a population of over 11 million, and Huanggang, with a population of around 7.5 million, came after an increase in the number of fatalities caused by the rapidly spreading virus.
The coronavirus, which first emerged in Wuhan in December 2019, has infected more than 830 people across China and has already claimed the lives of at least 26 people. The virus, which is believed to have originated in animals before it was transmitted to humans, has now spread to other parts of the world, with confirmed cases in the United States, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea, among other countries.
The Chinese government has revealed that the cities of Wuhan and Huanggang will undergo a complete quarantine, with all transportation in and out of the cities being suspended. This means that residents will not be allowed to leave the cities, and outsiders will not be permitted to enter. The measures, which are unprecedented in modern times, have left many residents stranded and unable to travel home for the Lunar New Year holiday – one of the busiest travel periods in China.
In addition to the lockdown measures, health officials have also shut down air and rail travel in and out of Wuhan, and have urged people to avoid public gatherings in an effort to contain the spread of the virus. However, despite these efforts, there are concerns that the virus may continue to spread within China and beyond its borders.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged the seriousness of the situation and has called a meeting to determine whether to declare a global health emergency in response to the outbreak. The organization has said that while it has yet to declare a global emergency, the situation is being closely monitored and taken very seriously.
The lockdown of two major Chinese cities illustrates the severity of the coronavirus outbreak and the extent to which the Chinese government is willing to go in order to contain its spread. While the measures may be viewed as extreme by some, it is clear that the Chinese authorities are taking swift and decisive action in the face of a potentially deadly virus. It remains to be seen how effective these measures will be in preventing the further spread of the virus, but it is clear that the world is watching and hoping for a swift resolution to this crisis.
