https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/26/asia/wuhan-coronavirus-update-intl-hnk/index.htmlHong Kong (CNN)The death toll from the Wuhan coronavirus now stands at 80, with almost 2,800 cases confirmed across China, as the country initiates emergency procedures to try and rein in the pathogen's global spread.
Making that task more difficult is the fact that the virus can be spread before any symptoms appear, Chinese health authorities said Sunday, meaning carriers may not realize they are infected before they transmit the virus to others.
Across China, 15 cities with a combined population of over 57 million people -- more than the entire population of South Korea -- have been placed under full or partial lockdown.
China warns coronavirus can spread before symptoms show
Wuhan itself has been effectively quarantined, with all routes in and out of the city closed or highly regulated. The government announced it is sending an additional 1,200 health workers -- along with 135 People's Liberation Army medical personnel -- to help the city's stretched hospital staff.
Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang said on Sunday that the number of cases could rise by another thousand.
The disease has also spread widely across China, with almost 70 cases confirmed in the capital Beijing, including a nine-month-old girl -- the youngest known case to be confirmed so far.
China has extended the Lunar New Year holiday to February 2 in an attempt to dissuade people from traveling and spreading the virus further. Almost all mass celebrations for the festival have been canceled, and authorities have urged people to avoid holding traditional large family gatherings.
Shanghai's government said Monday that all businesses in the city should remain shut until February 9. Schools in the city have been suspended until February 17, and quarantine inspections for workers returning to the city have been strengthened.
Only businesses the government deems vital to the operation of China's biggest city -- such as gas stations, pharmacies and supermarkets -- will be allowed to remain open, the municipal government said.
The severity of the emerging crisis is evident in the government's response. The Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party -- the country's top political body, headed by President Xi Jinping -- has taken direct control of operations. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived in Wuhan Monday to tour local hospitals, according to state media.
China's Ministry of Finance and National Health Commission has allotted 60.33 billion yuan (US$8.7 billion) towards fighting the deadly coronavirus this year, the ministry said on Monday.
Meanwhile, Zhou has admitted that the government didn't disclose information on the coronavirus in a "timely fashion."
In a live interview with state-run CCTV, Zhou said he took responsibility for the decision to lock down the city at the center of the outbreak -- a move he called "unprecedented in human history."
He said he knew that people were "not satisfied" with the rate at which his government had released information on the coronavirus.
"If anyone is asked to take the responsibility or people are complaining, as long as the epidemic can be controlled, we are willing to resign to take on the responsibility [of locking down the city]," he said on Monday.
The virus has spread quickly around the world since it was first discovered in Wuhan last month. In a paper published Sunday, scientists at Imperial College London estimated that each person infected has gone on to spread the virus to two or three others.
"This implies that control measures need to block well over 60% of transmission to be effective in controlling the outbreak," they added.
At a press conference on Monday, Professor Gabriel Leung of the University of Hong Kong warned that "self-sustaining epidemics" could be expected in major cities across China, now that the virus has spread there. Major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, all of which have reported cases, could export infections to different places around the world.
China's unprecedented quarantines could have wider consequences, experts say
"We hope that with intervention in other cities in China, the situation will be more positive," he said. "(However), containment measures may not always be effective, and will certainly be ineffective at some point in the long term."
Outside mainland China, at least 13 other places have reported cases of the virus, including France, Australia, Canada and the United States. Australia reported its fifth confirmed case Monday.
Switzerland's Federal Office for Public Health confirmed on Monday that authorities are testing for several suspected coronavirus cases at one hospital in the country.
In Hong Kong, authorities said residents of Hubei, the province of which Wuhan is the capital, and people who have visited the region in the last 14 days, will not be able to enter the city. The order does not cover Hong Kong residents, though they may be placed under quarantine.
There were protests in the northern Hong Kong town of Fanling -- near the Chinese border -- after it was announced that an unoccupied apartment building there would be converted to a "temporary" quarantine center. Residents set up roadblocks and clashed with police, and on Sunday the authorities said they were abandoning the plan.
Memories of the deadly 2003 SARS outbreak run deep in Hong Kong, and paranoia is already starting to settle in, with a rush purchases of face masks leading to shortages which may not be relieved until February, due to the Lunar New Year holiday and demand from China.
